One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Visalia you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Visalia 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 grow to maturity. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Visalia and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Visalia there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Visalia

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 Visalia

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