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 it's possible to plant bougainvillea is to check out the USDA zone info for South Portland.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

Bougainvillea are not cold tolerant which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in South Portland 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. Starting your bougainvillea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in South Portland. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for South Portland may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bougainvillea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Portland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in South Portland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Portland.