Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dipladenia.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

Frost tolerance for dipladenia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant dipladenia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant dipladenia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dipladenia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dipladenia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merced and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Merced you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dipladenia if you have a surprise late frost.

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.