One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant lantana is to consult the USDA zone info for Merced.

Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since lantana are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant lantana 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 lantana and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lantana may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lantana indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Merced last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lantana in the event of 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.