Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant mimulus is to use the USDA zone info for Estes Park.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Estes Park is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Estes Park. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Estes Park is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Estes Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Estes Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Estes Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Estes Park.