One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's a good idea to determine when to plant rock cress by checking out the USDA zone info for Merced.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

Frost tolerance for rock cress:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Rock Cress can survive in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress 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 rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your rock cress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Merced the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merced and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Merced last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rock cress 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.