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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant monarda by referring to the USDA zone info for Wilmette.

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 barely cold tolerant 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 Wilmette 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. 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

In Wilmette the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Wilmette is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmette you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Wilmette

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