When to Plant Lemon balm in Bethel, AK

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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Bethel you will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lemon balm.


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 some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lemon balm
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lemon balm
Probably not a good time to plant lemon balm

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Bethel 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 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

In Bethel the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bethel and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bethel you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your lemon balm in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bethel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-35°F
Highest Expected Low-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Bethel

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