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

The USDA zone info for Needles can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant mimulus.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Mimulus require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Needles 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Needles the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember 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 Needles and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Needles it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mimulus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Needles

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 Needles

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