Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant oriental poppies is to look at the USDA zone info for Calumet City.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Oriental poppies do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Calumet 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 oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Calumet City. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Calumet City is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Calumet City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Calumet City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Calumet City

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