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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Signal Mountain it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant monarda.

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 well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Signal Mountain 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 few weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Signal Mountain. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Signal Mountain may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Signal Mountain you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your monarda in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Signal Mountain

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Signal Mountain

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Signal Mountain.