One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant balsam is to consult the USDA zone info for Mercedes.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

Frost tolerance for balsam:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since balsam do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Mercedes is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balsam and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Mercedes. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mercedes may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mercedes you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mercedes

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Mercedes

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mercedes.