When to Plant Iceland Poppy in Wilmette, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Wilmette you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant iceland poppy.


Planting Calendar for Iceland Poppy

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

Iceland Poppy do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy in Wilmette 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceland poppy may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your iceland poppy indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmette it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your iceland poppy if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

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 Wilmette

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