When to Plant Mimulus in Evanston, IL

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

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant mimulus is to use the USDA zone info for Evanston.


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 you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant mimulus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant mimulus
Probably not a good time to plant mimulus

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Evanston 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Evanston 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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Evanston is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Evanston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your mimulus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

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 Evanston

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