When to Plant Lupine in Mount Joy, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Mount Joy should be looked at to estimate 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 tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lupine
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lupine
Probably not a good time to plant lupine

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Mount Joy 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lupine indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mount Joy. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Joy is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Joy you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Joy

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 Low0°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 Mount Joy

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Joy.