Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant lemon balm by referring to the USDA zone info for Knoxville.

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.

Since lemon balm do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lemon balm in Knoxville 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. If you wait any later than that and your lemon balm may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lemon balm indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Knoxville is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Knoxville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Knoxville

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 Knoxville

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