One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant bee balm by reviewing the USDA zone info for Zone 12b.

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 plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bee balm in Zone 12b is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 November. If you wait any later than that and your bee balm may not have a chance to really do well. 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

In Zone 12b it never frosts. It might get as low as 55°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 12b and it changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12b you do not have to be ready to cover your bee balm in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	55°F
Highest Expected Low	60°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 60°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12b.