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.

The USDA zone info for Palm Springs can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant oriental poppies.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

You can plant oriental poppies just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Palm Springs 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 oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Palm Springs the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Palm Springs is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Palm Springs it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Palm Springs

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 Palm Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palm Springs.