One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Longwood 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 one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Longwood 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Longwood may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Longwood you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your oriental poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longwood

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 Longwood

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