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.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant lupine is to look at the USDA zone info for Shelby.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Since lupine do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shelby and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Shelby you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

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 Shelby

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