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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Merced it's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant anchusa.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

Frost tolerance for anchusa:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Anchusa are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant anchusa in Merced is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant anchusa and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your anchusa may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your anchusa indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Merced. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Merced is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Merced there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your anchusa in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Merced

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merced

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