One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Walnut Creek you can figure out when you can plant monarda by checking out 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 slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Walnut Creek 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Walnut Creek. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Walnut Creek is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Walnut Creek last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your monarda if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Walnut Creek

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 Walnut Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Walnut Creek.