One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies by using the USDA zone info for Zone 1a.

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 Zone 1a is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 July. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 1a the average date of last frost happens on June 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -60°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 1a is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 1a you get a frost after June 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	July 15
Lowest Expected Low	-60°F
Highest Expected Low	-55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -60°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1a.