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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant bee balm is to refer to the USDA zone info for Niles.

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 are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Niles 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 few weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Niles. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Niles is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Niles last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Niles

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 Niles

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