One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Fort Smith you can figure out when to plant bee balm by looking at 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Fort Smith 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. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Smith. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fort Smith may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fort Smith last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Smith

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Fort Smith

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Smith.