One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first opportunity to plant bougainvillea in Chicago Ridge should be estimated 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 has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant bougainvillea until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Chicago Ridge 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chicago Ridge. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chicago Ridge is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chicago Ridge last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your bougainvillea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago Ridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chicago Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chicago Ridge.