Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant oriental poppies by reviewing the USDA zone info for Lake Alfred.

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 start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Lake Alfred. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lake Alfred is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake Alfred there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Alfred

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 Lake Alfred

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Alfred.