One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 to plant poppies is to look at the USDA zone info for Oak Island.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Since poppies do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Oak Island 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Oak Island. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Oak Island may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Island it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Island

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 Oak Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Island.