One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 USDA zone info for Zone 12b should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible 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 ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Zone 12b is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant monarda and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait 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

In Zone 12b it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 55°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12b is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12b you do not have to be ready to cover your monarda in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	55°F
Highest Expected Low	60°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 60°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12b.