One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant monarda in Chino Hills can be determined by referring to 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 do ok in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Chino Hills 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 fully mature. 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 is on January 31 in Chino Hills. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in 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 Chino Hills and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chino Hills there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chino Hills

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Chino Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chino Hills.