Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant monarda is to check out the USDA zone info for Surprise.

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 very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Surprise is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monarda and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your monarda may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your monarda indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Surprise the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Surprise is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Surprise it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your monarda if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Surprise

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Surprise

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Surprise.