One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Carthage should be reviewed to figure out when to plant mimulus.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus require warm weather 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 Carthage 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 really do well. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Carthage. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Carthage may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carthage last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Carthage

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