Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden 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 Steamboat Springs should be reffered to in order to estimate 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 all chance of frost has passed.

Since mimulus are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Steamboat Springs is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 fully mature. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Steamboat Springs. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Steamboat Springs is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Steamboat Springs it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Steamboat Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Steamboat Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Steamboat Springs.