One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Cedar Falls it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant mimulus.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus are not cold tolerant you need 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 Cedar Falls 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cedar Falls. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Cedar Falls may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cedar Falls you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Falls

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 Cedar Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Falls.