One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant lupine in Sonoma by using 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 some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Sonoma 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sonoma the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sonoma and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sonoma you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sonoma

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 Sonoma

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