One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when you can plant poppies is to consult the USDA zone info for Three Rivers.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Since poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Three Rivers 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Three Rivers. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Three Rivers may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Three Rivers last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Three Rivers

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Three Rivers

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Three Rivers.