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.

By using the USDA zone info for Winters it's a good idea to figure out when to plant mimulus.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

You should not plant mimulus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Winters 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 grow to maturity. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Winters. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Winters is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winters last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winters

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 Winters

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