One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Portsmouth it's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant lupine.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Lupine can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Portsmouth 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 Portsmouth. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Portsmouth there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lupine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Portsmouth

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