One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant monarda is to look at the USDA zone info for Lenoir.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather 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 Lenoir 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lenoir the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lenoir may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lenoir you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lenoir

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Lenoir

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