One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 it's the best time to plant mimulus in Orange by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mimulus

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

Since mimulus require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Orange 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 grow to maturity. 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 Orange. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Orange you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your mimulus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

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 Orange

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