One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant monarda by looking at the USDA zone info for Kansas City.

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 can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Kansas City 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Kansas City. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Kansas City

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 Kansas City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Kansas City.