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When to Plant California Poppy in Rice Lake, WI

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant california poppy in Rice Lake by using 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.

California Poppy can survive in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant california poppy
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant california poppy
Probably not a good time to plant california poppy

The earliest that you can plant california poppy in Rice Lake is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your california poppy may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your california poppy indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Rice Lake. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rice Lake and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rice Lake it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your california poppy if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rice Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Rice Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rice Lake.