Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's possible to plant poppies by looking at the USDA zone info for New Orleans.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in New Orleans. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your poppies if you have 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.