The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Florence can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Florence is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Florence. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Florence and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Florence you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Florence

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