One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant lemon balm in Baltimore can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lemon balm

Frost tolerance for lemon balm:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Lemon balm do well in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Baltimore 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 lemon balm and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Baltimore the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Baltimore is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Baltimore last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your lemon balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baltimore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Baltimore

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