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

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant ruby grass in Merced by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Ruby Grass

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

Ruby Grass are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ruby grass 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 ruby grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your ruby grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your ruby grass indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Merced. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merced and it is different every year. Half of the time in Merced last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your ruby grass in the event of 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.