Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Independence can be reffered to in order to figure out when to plant oriental poppies.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Oriental poppies can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Independence 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 oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Independence. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Independence it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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