When to Plant Lupine in Oskaloosa, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Oskaloosa it's possible to estimate when 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.

You can plant lupine a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lupine
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lupine
Probably not a good time to plant lupine

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Oskaloosa 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 few weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Oskaloosa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Oskaloosa is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Oskaloosa you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oskaloosa

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 Oskaloosa

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