One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant lemon balm is to look at the USDA zone info for Smithville.

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.

Lemon balm do well in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Smithville 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. Any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smithville. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smithville and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Smithville there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lemon balm if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithville

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