Herb · Lamiaceae
When to plant lemon balm
Grows easily to the point of nuisance and seeds itself everywhere. Cut it back hard before it flowers if you would rather not have it throughout the garden.
Start seed indoors
8 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Plant out
2 weeks after
Counted from your last spring frost.
Sow direct
2 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make lemon balm plantable anywhere.
- Start seed indoors 8 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant out 2 weeks after the last frost.
- Sow direct 2 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 1 after planting.
- Hardy in USDA zones 4a–9a.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop.
Frost tolerance
Extremely hardy, to about -25C. Dies to the ground and returns reliably.
Classified as very-hardy, with damage expected below -25°C (-13°F)-13°F (-25°C).