When to Plant Mimulus in San Diego, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In San Diego you can estimate when it's possible 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 has passed.

Since mimulus require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant mimulus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant mimulus
Probably not a good time to plant mimulus

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in San Diego is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Diego. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Diego and it is different every year. Since half of the time in San Diego it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.