Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when to plant bougainvillea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Nashville.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

Bougainvillea do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Nashville is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bougainvillea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bougainvillea may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Nashville the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Nashville and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Nashville you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your bougainvillea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nashville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Nashville

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