The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Merced you can determine when to plant calendula by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since calendula do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant calendula 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 calendula and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your calendula indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Merced. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merced and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Merced you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your calendula if you have 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.