When to Plant Iceland Poppy in Santa Monica, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant iceland poppy in Santa Monica can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


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 moderately cold tolerant.

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 Santa Monica 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your iceland poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Santa Monica. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Monica and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Monica you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your iceland poppy in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Monica.