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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Colorado City it's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Oriental poppies are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Colorado City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Colorado City. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Colorado City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Colorado City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Colorado City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Colorado City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Colorado City.