When to Plant Mimulus in Jacksonville, IL

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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Jacksonville you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant mimulus.


Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Mimulus are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed 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 Jacksonville 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your mimulus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Jacksonville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Jacksonville is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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