One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Dayton should be used to figure out when it's possible 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.

Bee Balm do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Dayton is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bee balm indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Dayton. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dayton and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dayton it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your bee balm if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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