When to Plant Iceland Poppy in Orinda, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Orinda you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant iceland poppy.


Planting Calendar for Iceland Poppy

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

You can plant iceland poppy a little 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 iceland poppy
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant iceland poppy
Probably not a good time to plant iceland poppy

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy in Orinda 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceland poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your iceland poppy 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 Orinda. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Orinda may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Orinda you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your iceland poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orinda

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 Orinda

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