One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Cedar Rapids you can figure out when it's the best time to plant poppies by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

Frost tolerance for poppies:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Poppies do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Cedar Rapids 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cedar Rapids the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Cedar Rapids there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Cedar Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Rapids.