One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant lemon balm in Raleigh should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant lemon balm slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Raleigh 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 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 really do well. If you are starting your lemon balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Raleigh the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Raleigh and it is different every year. Half of the time in Raleigh you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Raleigh

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Raleigh

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