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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies is to check out the USDA zone info for Elmhurst.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

You can plant oriental poppies a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elmhurst. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Elmhurst is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elmhurst there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmhurst

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 Elmhurst

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