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

In Matthews you can figure out when it's the best time to plant poppies by checking out 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.

Poppies do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Matthews 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 really do well. Starting your poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Matthews. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Matthews and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Matthews you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Matthews

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Matthews

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