Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant lemon balm in El Cerrito can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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.

Lemon balm are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in El Cerrito 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. Any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In El Cerrito the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for El Cerrito may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in El Cerrito last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to cover your lemon balm in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Cerrito

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Cerrito

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Cerrito.