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 Bettendorf should be looked at to estimate when to plant mimulus.

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 have to 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 Bettendorf 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bettendorf. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bettendorf is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bettendorf you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bettendorf

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Bettendorf

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