One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant oriental poppies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Nacogdoches.

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 can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Nacogdoches 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oriental poppies may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your oriental 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 March 15 in Nacogdoches. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Nacogdoches is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Nacogdoches last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Nacogdoches

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Nacogdoches

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