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.

A common way of estimating when to plant pampas grass is to consult the USDA zone info for Merced.

Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

It's not a good idea to plant pampas grass until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pampas grass 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Merced is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Merced it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your pampas grass 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.