One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when to plant poppies is to check out the USDA zone info for Salamanca.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Salamanca 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 fully mature. 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Salamanca. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Salamanca may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Salamanca it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salamanca

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Salamanca

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