One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant mimulus is to use the USDA zone info for Front Royal.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus require warm weather it is necessary 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 Front Royal 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. If you wait any later than that and your mimulus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Front Royal the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Front Royal is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Front Royal last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Front Royal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Front Royal

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Front Royal.