Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bluffton you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies by referring to 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 little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Bluffton 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. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bluffton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bluffton is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bluffton there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bluffton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Bluffton

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