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.

In Hillsborough you can determine when it's the best time to plant lupine by using 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 means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Hillsborough 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lupine may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hillsborough. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hillsborough and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hillsborough there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsborough

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsborough

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