One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 figuring out when to plant bee balm is to refer to the USDA zone info for Peoria.

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 well in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Peoria is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Peoria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Peoria is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Peoria you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your bee balm if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Peoria

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