One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Rainbow City can be used to estimate when you can plant monarda.

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 tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Rainbow City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your monarda may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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 when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rainbow City. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Rainbow City may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rainbow City last frost occurs 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 Rainbow City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rainbow City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rainbow City.