One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

In Sheldon you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant mimulus by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

Frost tolerance for mimulus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant mimulus until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Sheldon 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Sheldon. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sheldon is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sheldon you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sheldon

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 Sheldon

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