One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

You should be able to figure out when to plant bee balm by referring to the USDA zone info for Albert Lea.

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 means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Albert Lea is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Albert Lea. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Albert Lea is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albert Lea it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bee balm if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albert Lea

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Albert Lea

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Albert Lea.