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

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant mimulus by referring to the USDA zone info for Monticello.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

It's a bad idea to plant mimulus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Monticello 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Monticello the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Monticello is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Monticello last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Monticello

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