One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant bee balm is to check out the USDA zone info for Santee.

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.

You can plant bee balm slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Santee 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santee the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santee and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Santee you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santee

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 Santee

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