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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant mimulus by looking at the USDA zone info for Elko.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Elko 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 Elko. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Elko

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 Elko

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