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.

The first opportunity to plant salvia in Merced should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

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

Salvia do well in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salvia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your salvia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit 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 can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Merced is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Merced you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your salvia in the event of a surprise 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.