One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Longmont you can determine when it's a good idea to plant california poppy by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for California Poppy

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

California Poppy tend to make it in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Longmont 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 california poppy and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your california poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Longmont the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Longmont is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Longmont last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your california poppy if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Longmont

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Longmont

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Longmont.