When to Plant Lupine in Harvard, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant lupine in Harvard by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

You can plant lupine a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Harvard 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 lupine and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lupine may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harvard. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Harvard may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Harvard you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your lupine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harvard

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Harvard

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