One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant oriental poppies by referring to the USDA zone info for Augusta.

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 are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Augusta 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. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Augusta. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Augusta and it is different every year. Half of the time in Augusta you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Augusta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Augusta

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