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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant oriental poppies is to consult the USDA zone info for Blakely.

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 tend to make it in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Blakely 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. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Blakely. 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 Blakely is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Blakely last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Blakely

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 Blakely

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