One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Harrisburg you can figure out when to plant bougainvillea by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

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

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Harrisburg 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. If you wait any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bougainvillea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harrisburg. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Harrisburg is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisburg there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bougainvillea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Harrisburg

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