When to Plant Poppies in Herndon, VA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Herndon should be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant poppies.


Planting Calendar for Poppies

Frost tolerance for poppies: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Poppies do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the 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 Herndon 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. If you wait any later than that and your poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Herndon. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Herndon and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Herndon there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your poppies in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Herndon

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 Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°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 Herndon

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