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 USDA zone info for New Orleans can be read to determine 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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy in New Orleans 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceland poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your iceland poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Orleans the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for New Orleans and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your iceland poppy in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.