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.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant mimulus is to check out the USDA zone info for Exeter.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

Frost tolerance for mimulus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since mimulus are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Exeter 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 mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your mimulus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Exeter. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Exeter may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Exeter you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Exeter

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 Exeter

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