One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first chance to plant monarda in Binghamton can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

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 slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Binghamton 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. If you wait any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your monarda indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Binghamton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Binghamton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Binghamton

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 Binghamton

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