One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Dayton should be read to determine when it's a good idea to plant lemon balm.

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.

Since lemon 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 lemon balm in Dayton 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 lemon balm and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon balm may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Dayton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dayton is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Dayton there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

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 Dayton

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