Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Zone 6a you can figure out when to plant lupine by using 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 means that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Zone 6a 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 really do well. Starting your lupine indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Zone 6a. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6a is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 6a there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.