One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant california poppy is to examine the USDA zone info for Los Alamitos.

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.

Since california poppy are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Los Alamitos 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your california poppy indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Los Alamitos. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Alamitos and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Los Alamitos last frost occurs after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your california poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Alamitos

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 Los Alamitos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Alamitos.