The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Highlands it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time 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 just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Highlands 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. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Highlands the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Highlands is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Highlands it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bee balm if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Highlands

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Highlands

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