One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant bougainvillea by using the USDA zone info for Opelousas.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

Since bougainvillea are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Opelousas 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. 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

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Opelousas. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Opelousas is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Opelousas last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bougainvillea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Opelousas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Opelousas

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