One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Mattoon you can figure out when it's the best time to plant bee balm by referring to 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 are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Mattoon 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 fully mature. Starting your bee balm indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Mattoon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mattoon is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mattoon last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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