One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 USDA zone info for Westchester should be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant bougainvillea.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

Frost tolerance for bougainvillea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Bougainvillea are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Westchester is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bougainvillea and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Westchester. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Westchester may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Westchester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bougainvillea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Westchester

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