One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 will be able to determine when to plant bougainvillea by looking at the USDA zone info for Ruston.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

It's probably a bad 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 Ruston 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. Any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bougainvillea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ruston. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ruston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ruston you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bougainvillea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ruston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ruston

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