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When to Plant Oriental poppies in Mitchell, SD

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You should be able to estimate when to plant oriental poppies by checking out the USDA zone info for Mitchell.


Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Since oriental poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oriental poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oriental poppies
Probably not a good time to plant oriental poppies

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Mitchell is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mitchell the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mitchell and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mitchell you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your oriental poppies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mitchell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mitchell

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