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 checking out the USDA zone info for Carrollton you will be able to figure out 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.

Since monarda are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Carrollton 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. 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 March 15 in Carrollton. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carrollton is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Carrollton you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carrollton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carrollton

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