One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Merced you can estimate when it's possible to plant sutera by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sutera

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

Sutera do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sutera 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 sutera and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your sutera may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sutera indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merced and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Merced you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sutera 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.