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

In Fort Valley you can determine when it's the best time 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.

You can plant oriental poppies just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Fort Valley 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 really do well. 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 Fort Valley. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Valley and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Valley it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Valley

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