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.

The USDA zone info for Center can be read to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lupine.

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 a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Center 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. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Center the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Center and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Center you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Center

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Center

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