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

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies is to use the USDA zone info for Presidio.

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 do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Presidio is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. 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. Starting your oriental poppies indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Presidio the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Presidio and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Presidio you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your oriental poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Presidio

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Presidio

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