One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant california poppy is to examine the USDA zone info for Atwater.

Planting Calendar for California Poppy

Frost tolerance for california poppy:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since california poppy do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Atwater 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 california poppy and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your california poppy indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Atwater. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Atwater and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Atwater you get a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your california poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Atwater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Atwater

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