One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 opportunity to plant oriental poppies in Gonzales should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Since oriental poppies do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Gonzales is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gonzales the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gonzales is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Gonzales it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gonzales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gonzales

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