One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Big Bear Lake should be reffered to in order to determine 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since bougainvillea are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Big Bear Lake 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bougainvillea may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Big Bear Lake. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Bear Lake is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Big Bear Lake last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your bougainvillea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Big Bear Lake

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Big Bear Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Bear Lake.