One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Richland should be reffered to in order to figure out when you can plant lemon balm.

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 are barely cold tolerant 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 Richland 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon balm may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your lemon balm indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Richland the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Richland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Richland it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lemon balm if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richland

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 Richland

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