One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

It's possible to estimate when to plant monarda by reviewing the USDA zone info for South Gate.

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 do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in South Gate 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in South Gate. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for South Gate is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Gate it frosts late in the year after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Gate

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in South Gate

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Gate.