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.

A way of estimating when you can plant poppies is to consult the USDA zone info for Oxford.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

You can plant poppies just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Oxford 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 grow to maturity. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oxford the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Oxford is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Oxford it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oxford

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 Oxford

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