Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Great Falls can be used to determine when to plant bee balm.

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.

You can plant bee balm a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Great Falls 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. Any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Great Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Great Falls is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Great Falls you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your bee balm if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Great Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Great Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Great Falls.