One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 Lake Forest can be reviewed to determine 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.

It's a bad idea to plant bougainvillea until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Lake Forest 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. If you wait any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bougainvillea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Lake Forest. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Forest may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Forest it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your bougainvillea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Forest

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