When to Plant Monarda in Machesney Park, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant monarda by reviewing the USDA zone info for Machesney Park.

Create beautiful hand-made plants at forever-plants.com

Planting Calendar for Monarda

Frost tolerance for monarda: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant monarda a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant monarda
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant monarda
Probably not a good time to plant monarda

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Machesney Park 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 monarda and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your monarda indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Machesney Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Machesney Park and it is different every year. Half of the time in Machesney Park you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your monarda in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Machesney Park

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 Machesney Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Machesney Park.