Lemon Balm is a perennial culinary herb, grown for the flavor it brings to the kitchen, ready to harvest about 70 days after planting. It's hardy across USDA zones 3 through 7 and stands up to deer. Its summer flowers are a moderate draw for honeybees and native bees, even though the harvest is the prize.
Lemon Balm — the short answer
Lemon Balm: grown in zones 3–7, part sun, pH 4.5–7.8, about 70 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 3–7
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.5–7.8
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Part Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 70 days
- UMD-Herb; RHS
- Frost-kill temperature
- 32°F
- FAO ECOCROP
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Lemon Balm on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether lemon balm actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score lemon balm against your land's real conditions.
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What Lemon Balm is
Lemon Balm grows as a perennial and reaches around two feet at maturity. It blooms white in summer. It's also deer-resistant.
How to grow Lemon Balm
Lemon Balm grows in USDA zones 3 through 7 and is ready to harvest about 70 days after planting. Lemon Balm does best in part sun — at least 4 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.5 to 7.8, on well-drained ground. It needs around 900 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 60 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
3-7
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.5 - 7.8
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Part Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost Kill Temperature
32°F
Where cold starts killing growing tissue. Not a winter-survival floor — a dormant perennial takes far colder, which its hardiness zone answers.
FAO ECOCROP
Minimum Growing Temperature
42.8°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Days to Maturity
70 days
Lemon balm; perennial; cut-and-come-again.
UMD-Herb; RHS
GDD Required
900+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
2 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
60+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant lemon balm in part sun with at least 4 hours of direct sun. It grows in the cool halves of the year, so sow it in spring or late summer rather than waiting for midsummer heat.
Match the soil
Lemon Balm prefers pH 4.5 to 7.8 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Lemon Balm is ready about 70 days after planting (UMD-Herb; RHS). Snip sprigs as you need them — regular cutting keeps the foliage tender and slows it bolting to flower.
Where Lemon Balm thrives
Lemon Balm is hardy across USDA zones 3 through 7. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 3–7 spans average winter lows from -40°F to 10°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 23 outright and splits 25 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 3–7·Where Lemon Balm growsOpen map →
Where Lemon Balm stands, state by state
Lemon Balm is rated for zones 3–7 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 23 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 25 more, and 3 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 3–7
23 states
3 of 23 shown
The line runs through
25 states
- Alaska · zones 1a-9a
- Idaho · zones 3b-8a
- California · zones 4b-11a
3 of 25 shown
Lemon Balm’s band covers part of each of these states — which side of the line your county sits on changes the answer, and each state page draws it.
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Lemon Balm
Growing guides for lemon balm
In rotation planning, lemon balm counts as a Other — beds recover best when other crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — lemon balm isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Lemon Balm offers moderate value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Before you harvest lemon balm, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant lemon balm for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Lemon Balm's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Lemon Balm will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether lemon balm actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Lemon Balm
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Lemon Balm in my zone?
Lemon Balm grows in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 7 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Lemon Balm take to grow?
Lemon Balm is ready to harvest about 70 days after planting (UMD-Herb; RHS). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Lemon Balm?
Lemon Balm is a cool-season crop, so it goes in during the cool halves of the year — early spring, and again in late summer for a fall planting — rather than at the height of summer heat. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Lemon Balm need?
Lemon Balm does well in partial sun — around 4 hours of direct sun, and it takes some afternoon shade in stride. That flexibility makes it a good match for a bed the house or a nearby tree shades for part of the day. A Growable Ground report maps how the sun actually falls on your land, hour by hour, so you can set it where the light lines up.
What soil does Lemon Balm need?
Lemon Balm prefers soil pH 4.5 to 7.8, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Lemon Balm attract pollinators?
Yes — lemon balm's flowers are a solid nectar source for honeybees and native bees. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Is Lemon Balm safe for pets?
Lemon Balm is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)