One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant poppies in Dayton can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

You can plant poppies a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Dayton 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. Any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Dayton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dayton and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

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 Dayton

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