One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant impatiens is to examine the USDA zone info for Merced.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant impatiens until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Merced is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Merced you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your impatiens if you have a 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.