DatePicker in jQuery

DatePicker in jQuery

Hi All,
I am using jQuery datepicker plugin.
Now What I want is to set the minDate/maxDate value. When I assign in number of days,months and years, it works perfectly.
Example:-
$("#date_to").datepicker({minDate: -5, maxDate: '+11D'});

But is there any other way to set some date value in minDate/maxDate. directly?
Example:-
$("#date_to").datepicker({minDate: '2009-07-20', maxDate: '+11D'});


Thanks