Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 figuring out when it's the best time to plant bougainvillea is to examine the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

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

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Costa Mesa 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 bougainvillea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Costa Mesa. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Costa Mesa there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your bougainvillea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Costa Mesa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Costa Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Costa Mesa.