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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant mimulus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Mechanicsburg 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 fully mature. If you are starting your mimulus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mechanicsburg. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mechanicsburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mechanicsburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Mechanicsburg

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