One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 determining when it's possible to plant mimulus is to examine the USDA zone info for Orange.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Mimulus require warm weather 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 Orange 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Orange the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Orange there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange

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