Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Merced you can figure out when to plant flax by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

Flax do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flax 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 flax and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your flax indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Merced is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes 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 flax 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.