When to Plant Bee Balm in Rainbow City, AL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant bee balm in Rainbow City can be estimated by checking out 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.

Since bee balm are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Rainbow City 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. Any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rainbow City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rainbow City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rainbow City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rainbow City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rainbow City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rainbow City.