Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Birmingham should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bee Balm

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

Bee Balm do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Birmingham 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 bee balm and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Birmingham the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Birmingham is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Birmingham it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Birmingham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Birmingham

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