One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for La Quinta should be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant bee balm.

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 ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in La Quinta 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. 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. Starting your bee balm indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for La Quinta may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Quinta you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Quinta

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 La Quinta

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Quinta.