One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant lupine in Vancouver should be determined by reviewing 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.

You can plant lupine a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Vancouver 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. Starting your lupine indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Vancouver. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Vancouver is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Vancouver last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lupine if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vancouver

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 Vancouver

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