One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Auburn can be read to figure out 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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Auburn is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lupine and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your lupine may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Auburn. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Auburn is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Auburn you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your lupine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

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

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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