One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant monarda in West Plains should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

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.

Monarda can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that 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 monarda in West Plains 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. Any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your monarda indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Plains. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for West Plains is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in West Plains you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Plains

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in West Plains

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Plains.