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.

In Mountlake Terrace you can determine when it's the best time to plant balsam by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

Frost tolerance for balsam:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since balsam do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant balsam and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balsam may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Mountlake Terrace. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mountlake Terrace may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mountlake Terrace you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balsam in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountlake Terrace

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mountlake Terrace

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountlake Terrace.