One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Merced you can estimate when it's the best time to plant lunaria by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lunaria

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

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

The earliest that you can plant lunaria 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 lunaria and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your lunaria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lunaria indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Merced. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Merced is an average and the actual date of last frost changes 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 lunaria in the event of 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.