One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Poplar Bluff should be reffered to in order to figure out when you can plant oriental poppies.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

You can plant oriental poppies a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Poplar Bluff 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 oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Poplar Bluff. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Poplar Bluff and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Poplar Bluff you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Poplar Bluff

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Poplar Bluff

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Poplar Bluff.