Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is All Gold Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis 'All Gold')cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called All Gold Lemon Balm, Golden Lemon Balm.

More about all gold lemon balm

About All Gold Lemon Balm

Melissa officinalis 'All Gold' · also called All Gold Lemon Balm, Golden Lemon Balm · herb

All Gold Lemon Balm is a cultivar of lemon balm with uniformly bright golden-yellow foliage — more intensely gold than 'Aurea'. It retains the signature lemon fragrance and flavour and is prized as both a culinary herb and a garden foliage accent. Compact and hardy, it suits containers, herb borders, and pollinator plantings.

Cold limit: USDA 4–9 · RHS H5 (5–25°C)

What all gold lemon balm's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — all gold lemon balm is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 4–9, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H5 means: Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters. On the US scale that maps to USDA 4–9 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. All Gold Lemon Balm is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for all gold lemon balm as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can all gold lemon balm go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 4–9 and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when all gold lemon balm can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H5 figure above.

All Gold Lemon Balm hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is all gold lemon balm cold hardy?

Yes — all gold lemon balm is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 4–9, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. All Gold Lemon Balm is hardy across USDA 4–9; it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature all gold lemon balm can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. All Gold Lemon Balm is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is all gold lemon balm?

All Gold Lemon Balm is rated USDA 4–9 and RHS H5 — Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters.

Can all gold lemon balm survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 4–9 and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to all gold lemon balm below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.