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

One way of making a decision about when to plant bougainvillea is to examine the USDA zone info for International Falls.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

It's not a good idea to plant bougainvillea until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in International Falls is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in International Falls. It might get as low as -40°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for International Falls is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in International Falls there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your bougainvillea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for International Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-40°F
Highest Expected Low	-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in International Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for International Falls.