When to Plant Bee Balm in Livingston, MT

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant bee balm is to look at the USDA zone info for Livingston.


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 barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bee balm
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bee balm
Probably not a good time to plant bee balm

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Livingston 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Livingston the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Livingston may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Livingston you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bee balm in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Livingston

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 Livingston

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