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.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Peoria should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

It's not a good idea to plant mimulus until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Peoria 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mimulus may not have a chance to really do well. 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

In Peoria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Peoria is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Peoria you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your mimulus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria

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 Peoria

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