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.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant lupine is to examine the USDA zone info for Washington.

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 Washington 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Washington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Washington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your lupine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Washington

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