When to Plant Poppies in Millbrae, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant poppies in Millbrae by looking at the USDA zone info.


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 means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Millbrae 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. Any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Millbrae. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Millbrae and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Millbrae there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Millbrae

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Millbrae

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Millbrae.