When to Plant Poppies in Pella, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant poppies in Pella 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 do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant poppies
Probably not a good time to plant poppies

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Pella 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 fully mature. If you are starting your poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Pella. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Pella is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pella last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pella

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Pella

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