One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 Fairfax can be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant bougainvillea.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

Since bougainvillea do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Fairfax is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 fully mature. Starting your bougainvillea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Fairfax. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairfax is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Fairfax there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your bougainvillea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairfax

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairfax

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