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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant mimulus in Rock Falls by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

You can not plant mimulus until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Rock Falls 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 fully mature. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rock Falls. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rock Falls and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rock Falls you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rock Falls

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 Rock Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rock Falls.