One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 way of figuring out when to plant mimulus is to check out the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus are not cold tolerant you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Santa Monica 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. Any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Santa Monica. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Monica is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Monica you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

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 Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°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 Santa Monica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Monica.