One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant poppies is to look at the USDA zone info for King City.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in King City 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In King City the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for King City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in King City you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for King City

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 King City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for King City.