One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant bee balm in Helotes can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Helotes 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. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Helotes. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Helotes and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Helotes you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your bee balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Helotes

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Helotes

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