One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant mimulus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Key West.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

Frost tolerance for mimulus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Mimulus are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Key West is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait 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

In Key West it never frosts. It might get as low as 45°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Key West is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.