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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant lupine is to check out the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Since lupine are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Ridgecrest 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 grow to maturity. Starting your lupine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Ridgecrest. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ridgecrest last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your lupine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

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 Ridgecrest

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