Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Portland should be figured out by checking out 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 ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Portland 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Portland. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portland is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Portland you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lupine in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

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 Portland

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