Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant mimulus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rantoul.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

It's not a good idea to plant mimulus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Rantoul 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. 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 the last frost is on April 15 in Rantoul. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rantoul may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rantoul it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rantoul

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 Rantoul

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