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

In Altoona you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant iceland poppy by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iceland Poppy

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

Iceland Poppy are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy in Altoona 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your iceland poppy may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your iceland poppy indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Altoona the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your iceland poppy in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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