One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant oriental poppies is to look at the USDA zone info for Oklahoma City.

Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

You can plant oriental poppies a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Oklahoma City 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. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oklahoma City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oklahoma City and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Oklahoma City last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oklahoma City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Oklahoma City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oklahoma City.