Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant mimulus by using the USDA zone info for Preston.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus require warm weather it is important 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 Preston 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 really do well. If you are starting your mimulus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Preston the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Preston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Preston it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your mimulus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Preston

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 Preston

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