One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant mimulus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

It's a bad idea to plant mimulus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Alexandria 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Alexandria is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Alexandria last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

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 Alexandria

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