One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant lupine is to consult the USDA zone info for Austin.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Since lupine are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Austin is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lupine and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lupine may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Austin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Austin and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Austin you get a frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your lupine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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