One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 a good idea to plant bee balm is to refer to the USDA zone info for Groton.

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 mild cold which means that 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 bee balm in Groton is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Groton. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Groton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Groton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bee balm if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Groton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Groton

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