Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

One way of determining when it's the best time to plant mimulus is to examine the USDA zone info for Taos.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

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 Taos 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Taos. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Taos may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Taos there is a last 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 Taos

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 Taos

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