When to Plant Oriental poppies in Lake Elsinore, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Lake Elsinore can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

You can plant oriental poppies just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oriental poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oriental poppies
Probably not a good time to plant oriental poppies

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Lake Elsinore 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. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Elsinore the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Elsinore is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Elsinore you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elsinore

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Lake Elsinore

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elsinore.