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.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant bee balm is to use the USDA zone info for Hoquiam.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Hoquiam 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 fully mature. If you are starting your bee balm indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hoquiam and it is different every year. Half of the time in Hoquiam last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hoquiam

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 Hoquiam

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