Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Encinitas you can estimate when it's possible to plant monarda 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.

Since monarda are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Encinitas 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Encinitas the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Encinitas is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Encinitas there is a last frost after January 31 so always be ready to cover your monarda in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Encinitas

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 Encinitas

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