One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when to plant bee balm by using the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Mount Vernon 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 grow to maturity. Starting your bee balm indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mount Vernon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Vernon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

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 Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.