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.

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

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.

California Poppy are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Colusa 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. Any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your california poppy indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Colusa 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Colusa is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Colusa it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your california poppy if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Colusa

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 Colusa

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