One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first chance to plant lupine in Espanola can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Lupine do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Espanola 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lupine may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Espanola. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Espanola is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Espanola it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Espanola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Espanola

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