One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant lupine in Alva by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

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

Lupine do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Alva 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lupine may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Alva. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alva is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alva you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alva

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Alva

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