When to Plant Lupine in Athens, TN

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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant lupine in Athens by looking at 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 are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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 Athens 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. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Athens. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Athens and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Athens

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