One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Watsonville you can figure out when it's the best time 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.

Since oriental poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Watsonville 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 little bit earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Watsonville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Watsonville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Watsonville last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Watsonville

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 Watsonville

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