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 first opportunity to plant lemon balm in Chariton should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lemon balm

Frost tolerance for lemon balm:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since lemon balm do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Chariton 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 lemon balm and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lemon balm indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chariton. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chariton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chariton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lemon balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chariton

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 Chariton

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