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

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant poppies is to consult the USDA zone info for Bay Minette.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Bay Minette 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bay Minette. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bay Minette and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bay Minette it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bay Minette

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 Bay Minette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay Minette.