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 first opportunity to plant mimulus in Federal Way should be estimated 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 has passed.

Mimulus do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mimulus in Federal Way 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mimulus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Federal Way. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Federal Way is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Federal Way you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your mimulus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Federal Way

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 Federal Way

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Federal Way.