One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Knoxville you can figure out when you can plant mimulus by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant mimulus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Knoxville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mimulus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Knoxville. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Knoxville is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Knoxville it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your mimulus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Knoxville

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 Knoxville

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