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

The first chance to plant mimulus in Great Bend should be figured out by looking at 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.

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

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Great Bend 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. 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

In Great Bend the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Great Bend and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Great Bend last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Great Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Great Bend

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Great Bend.