One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can figure out when to plant oriental poppies in Harvard by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

Frost tolerance for oriental poppies:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant oriental poppies a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Harvard 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 oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Harvard the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Harvard may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Harvard last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harvard

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 Harvard

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