One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant lupine is to look at the USDA zone info for Harrisonburg.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

Frost tolerance for lupine:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Lupine do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Harrisonburg 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. If you wait any later than that and your lupine may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Harrisonburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Harrisonburg is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Harrisonburg it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your lupine if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisonburg

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 Low	0°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 Harrisonburg

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