One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 Manchester you can determine when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies by checking out 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 do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Manchester 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Manchester. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Manchester and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

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 Manchester

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