Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when to plant monarda by reviewing the USDA zone info for San Benito.

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 tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in San Benito is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monarda and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your monarda may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your monarda indoors.

Last Frost Date

In San Benito the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Benito is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in San Benito you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your monarda in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Benito

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in San Benito

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Benito.