When to Plant Monarda in Centralia, IL

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.

The USDA zone info for Centralia can be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant monarda.


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 moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant monarda
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant monarda
Probably not a good time to plant monarda

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Centralia is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monarda and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Centralia the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Centralia is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Centralia last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your monarda in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Centralia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Centralia

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