One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant mimulus is to use the USDA zone info for Joliet.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

You can not plant mimulus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Joliet 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

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Joliet. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Joliet is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your mimulus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

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