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.

By using the USDA zone info for Mansfield it's possible to determine when it's possible 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 are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Mansfield 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mansfield the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mansfield and it is different every year. Half of the time in Mansfield you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mansfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mansfield

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