Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

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

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Lupine tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Ashland 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 fully mature. Starting your lupine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ashland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ashland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ashland it frosts late in the year 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 Ashland

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 Ashland

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