One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 estimating when to plant poppies is to check out the USDA zone info for Jackson.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Jackson 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 few weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Jackson. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jackson is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Jackson it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jackson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Jackson

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