One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 Shelbyville can be looked at 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.

Since oriental poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Shelbyville 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Shelbyville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Shelbyville is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Shelbyville there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelbyville

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 Shelbyville

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