One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Oregon City you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant monarda by referring to 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.

Monarda do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Oregon 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. If you wait any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Oregon City the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oregon City is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Oregon City last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your monarda if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oregon City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Oregon City

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