One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 best time to plant bee balm in Manitowoc can be estimated 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.

Since bee balm are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Manitowoc 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. Any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. 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 April 15 in Manitowoc. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Manitowoc is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Manitowoc you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your bee balm if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manitowoc

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Manitowoc

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