One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of estimating when to plant monarda is to refer to the USDA zone info for Edinburgh.

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 well in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Edinburgh 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. Starting your monarda indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Edinburgh. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Edinburgh is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Edinburgh you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your monarda if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Edinburgh

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 Edinburgh

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