One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Charles City you can estimate when it's the best time to plant poppies by checking out 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.

Since poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Charles City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Charles City. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Charles City and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Charles City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charles City

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 Charles City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charles City.