One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 determine when it's a good idea to plant petunias by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Petunias tend to make it in very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Merced is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant petunias and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your petunias indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Merced. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Merced may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Merced there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your petunias if you have one of those late frosts.

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.