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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant california poppy is to use the USDA zone info for La Quinta.

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 a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in La Quinta 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. If you wait any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your california poppy indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in La Quinta. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Quinta may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Quinta last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your california poppy if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Quinta

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 La Quinta

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Quinta.