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

The best time to plant bee balm in Valparaiso should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

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.

Since bee balm do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Valparaiso 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. Any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Valparaiso. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valparaiso is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Valparaiso you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valparaiso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Valparaiso

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