Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Morton can be reffered to in order to estimate when to plant poppies.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies do well in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Morton 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 few weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Morton is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Morton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Morton

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 Morton

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