One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Colton it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant lemon balm.

Planting Calendar for Lemon balm

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

You can plant lemon balm a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Colton 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 lemon balm and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Colton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Colton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Colton it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Colton

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 Colton

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