The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Independence you will be able to figure out 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 do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Independence 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Independence. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Independence and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Independence you get a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your lupine in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Independence

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