Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant lemon balm is to check out the USDA zone info for Rochester.

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.

Lemon balm can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Rochester 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. Any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lemon balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rochester. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lemon balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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