One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in San Diego should be figured out by checking out 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.

You can plant monarda just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in San Diego 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 really do well. If you are starting your monarda indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Diego the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Diego is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in San Diego you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your monarda if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in San Diego

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