One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Chillicothe should be used to estimate when it's possible 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 are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Chillicothe 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.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chillicothe is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chillicothe there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chillicothe

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 Chillicothe

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