When to Plant Bougainvillea in Key West, FL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

You can determine when to plant bougainvillea in Key West by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

Bougainvillea do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bougainvillea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bougainvillea
Probably not a good time to plant bougainvillea

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Key West is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bougainvillea and expect a good harvest is probably November. 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 little bit earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. It might get as low as 45°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Key West and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to protect your bougainvillea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)Never
Lowest Expected Low45°F
Highest Expected Low50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.