When to Plant California Poppy in Fruitland, MD

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Fruitland should be used to determine when you can plant california poppy.


Planting Calendar for California Poppy

Frost tolerance for california poppy: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

California Poppy tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant california poppy
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant california poppy
Probably not a good time to plant california poppy

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Fruitland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant california poppy and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your california poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Fruitland. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fruitland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fruitland last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your california poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fruitland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fruitland

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