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 earliest that you can plant mimulus in Charleston should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

Frost tolerance for mimulus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant mimulus until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Charleston is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mimulus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charleston. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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