When to Plant Oriental poppies in Zone 1b

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 estimate when it's the best time to plant oriental poppies in Zone 1b by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

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

Oriental poppies do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oriental poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oriental poppies
Probably not a good time to plant oriental poppies

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Zone 1b is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably July. If you wait any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is June 15 in Zone 1b. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -55°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 1b is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 1b it frosts late in the year after June 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)July 15
Lowest Expected Low-55°F
Highest Expected Low-50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1b.