When to Plant Poppies in Spearfish, 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.

The first chance to plant poppies in Spearfish should be determined by referring to 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.

You can plant poppies a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate 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 Spearfish 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 poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Spearfish. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Spearfish and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Spearfish you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Spearfish

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Spearfish

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