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

By using the USDA zone info for Oakland you will be able to estimate when it's a good idea 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 slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Oakland 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bee balm indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Oakland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oakland and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Oakland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bee balm in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oakland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Oakland

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