The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Palatine you can determine when it's the best time to plant mimulus 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Mimulus are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Palatine 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. Any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Palatine. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Palatine may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Palatine it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palatine

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Palatine

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