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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant mimulus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Ellensburg.

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 you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Ellensburg 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. Starting your mimulus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ellensburg. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ellensburg is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ellensburg you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ellensburg

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 Ellensburg

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