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.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant monarda is to refer to the USDA zone info for Scranton.

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 plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Scranton 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Scranton. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Scranton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Scranton there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Scranton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Scranton

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