One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 using the USDA zone info for El Centro it's possible to figure out when 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 tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in El Centro 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. Any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In El Centro the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for El Centro is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in El Centro you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so always be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.