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

One way of determining when to plant lupine is to consult the USDA zone info for Mahomet.

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 just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Mahomet 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. If you wait 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 Mahomet. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mahomet may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mahomet there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mahomet

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 Mahomet

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