One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant monarda by checking out the USDA zone info for Atwater.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Atwater 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. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Atwater. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Atwater is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Atwater it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Atwater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Atwater

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