When to Plant Oriental poppies in Torrance, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 Torrance 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.

Oriental poppies do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oriental poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oriental poppies
Probably not a good time to plant oriental poppies

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Torrance 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. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Torrance is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Torrance last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Torrance

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 Torrance

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