When to Plant Poppies in Pierre, SD

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

In Pierre you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant poppies by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Poppies do well in some cold which means that 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 poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant poppies
Probably not a good time to plant poppies

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Pierre. In the coldest months of winter you can 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 Pierre and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Pierre you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pierre

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 Pierre

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