One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Zone 1a can be figured out by using 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.

Monarda are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant monarda in Zone 1a is June. However, you really should wait until July if you don't want to take any chances.

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

On average the last frost has passed is on June 15 in Zone 1a. You should expect an average low temperature of -60°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 1a is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 1a you get surprised by a frost after June 15 so always be ready to protect your monarda if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	July 15
Lowest Expected Low	-60°F
Highest Expected Low	-55°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 1a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1a.