One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first chance to plant purple bell vines in Merced can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Bell Vines

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

You can plant purple bell vines just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines 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 purple bell vines and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your purple bell vines may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your purple bell vines indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed 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. Since half of the time in Merced you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your purple bell vines 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.