One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Port Orchard you can figure out when it's possible to plant california poppy by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for California Poppy

Frost tolerance for california poppy:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant california poppy just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Port Orchard is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant california poppy and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your california poppy may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your california poppy indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Port Orchard the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Port Orchard and it is different every year. Half of the time in Port Orchard you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your california poppy in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Orchard

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 Port Orchard

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Orchard.