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

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant bee balm is to check out the USDA zone info for South El Monte.

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 tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in South El Monte 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 fully mature. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in South El Monte. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for South El Monte and it is different every year. Since half of the time in South El Monte last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your bee balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

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 South El Monte

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