One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 figuring out when you can plant monarda is to examine the USDA zone info for Pittsburg.

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 tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Pittsburg 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your monarda may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your monarda indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Pittsburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Pittsburg and it is different every year. Half of the time in Pittsburg last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pittsburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Pittsburg

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