One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant oriental poppies is to use the USDA zone info for Wheaton.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Oriental poppies tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Wheaton 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Wheaton. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wheaton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Wheaton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wheaton

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 Wheaton

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