The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Erie you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant lupine 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 tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Erie 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Erie. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Erie is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Erie you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Erie

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