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.

In Capitola you can determine when it's possible to plant oriental poppies by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Since oriental poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Capitola is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Capitola the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Capitola is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Capitola you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Capitola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Capitola

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