One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant poppies is to examine the USDA zone info for Kennewick.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

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

Since poppies are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Kennewick 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your poppies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Kennewick is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Kennewick there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your poppies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kennewick

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 Kennewick

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