One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant salpiglossis is to use the USDA zone info for Merced.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

Frost tolerance for salpiglossis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since salpiglossis are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant salpiglossis 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 salpiglossis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salpiglossis may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your salpiglossis indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Merced may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Merced last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your salpiglossis 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.