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 common way of determining when to plant poppies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ridgeland.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Ridgeland 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. Any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ridgeland. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ridgeland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ridgeland you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgeland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgeland

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