The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant lupine is to check out the USDA zone info for Clarion.

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 a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Clarion 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 few weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Clarion. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Clarion is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Clarion there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your lupine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clarion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Clarion

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