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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lupine by referring to the USDA zone info for Gretna.

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 get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Gretna 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Gretna the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gretna may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gretna last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lupine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gretna

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 Gretna

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