The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

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

Since poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Raritan 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Raritan. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Raritan and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Raritan there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Raritan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Raritan

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