When to Plant California Poppy in Orange Cove, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Orange Cove should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant california poppy.


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.

You can plant california poppy a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Orange Cove 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. 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

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Orange Cove. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Orange Cove is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Orange Cove there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your california poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange Cove

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 Orange Cove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Orange Cove.