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

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Richmond should be figured out by checking out 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.

Since bee balm are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Richmond 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. Any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bee balm indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Richmond. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Richmond is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your bee balm if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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