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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Rochester you should be able to estimate when you can plant iceland poppy.

Planting Calendar for Iceland Poppy

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

Iceland Poppy are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy in Rochester 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceland poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your iceland poppy indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rochester. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your iceland poppy if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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