One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant lupine by using the USDA zone info for Iowa Falls.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Lupine can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Iowa Falls 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 fully mature. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Iowa Falls. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Iowa Falls is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa Falls last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa Falls.