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

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Belfast can be determined by looking at 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 are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Belfast 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. Starting your lupine indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Belfast. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Belfast is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Belfast it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belfast

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 Belfast

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