Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Martinez should be reviewed to figure out 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.

Lemon balm do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Martinez 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon balm may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lemon balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Martinez. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Martinez may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Martinez last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Martinez

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 Martinez

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