The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when you can plant bee balm is to refer to the USDA zone info for Manchester.

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 slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Manchester 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. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Manchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Manchester

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