Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 South El Monte can be looked at to figure out when it's possible 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.

Oriental poppies tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in South El Monte 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. Any later than that and 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 South El Monte the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for South El Monte is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in South El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South El Monte.