One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant monarda is to examine the USDA zone info for Moraga.

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 means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Moraga the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Moraga is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Moraga you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Moraga

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 Moraga

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