One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant bee balm by reviewing the USDA zone info for California City.

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 tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in California 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bee balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in California City. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for California City is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in California City there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for California City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in California City

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