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.

It's a good idea to determine when to plant bougainvillea by looking at the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant bougainvillea until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in San Luis Obispo 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. Any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bougainvillea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in San Luis Obispo. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo and it is different every year. Since half of the time in San Luis Obispo there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your bougainvillea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Luis Obispo

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 San Luis Obispo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Luis Obispo.