One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant california poppy by looking at the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley.

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 do ok in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Fountain Valley 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your california poppy may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your california poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fountain Valley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fountain Valley there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your california poppy in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Fountain Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fountain Valley.