One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Payson you can determine when you can plant oriental poppies by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Payson 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. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your oriental poppies indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Payson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Payson is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Payson you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Payson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Payson

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