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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant lemon balm is to examine the USDA zone info for Newport Beach.

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.

Since lemon balm do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Newport Beach 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. If you are starting your lemon balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Newport Beach the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Newport Beach.