One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Casper should be looked at to figure out when to plant balsam.

Planting Calendar for Balsam

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant balsam until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant balsam in Casper 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. If you wait any later than that and your balsam may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your balsam indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Casper. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Casper is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Casper you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your balsam if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Casper

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Casper

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