The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant poppies in Big Lake should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

You can plant poppies just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Big Lake 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Big Lake. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Big Lake it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Big Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Lake.