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 Fort Walton Beach you can figure out when to plant oriental poppies by reviewing 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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Fort Walton Beach is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 September. 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

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Fort Walton Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fort Walton Beach is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Walton Beach it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Walton Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Walton Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Walton Beach.