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

The USDA zone info for Novato can be used to figure out when you can plant poppies.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Novato 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 fully mature. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Novato. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Novato is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Novato it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Novato

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 Novato

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