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.

You can figure out when you can plant mimulus in Houston by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Mimulus are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Houston is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant mimulus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Houston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Houston and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Houston last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Houston

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