Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in California can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bougainvillea

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

You can not plant bougainvillea until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in California 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in California. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for California may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in California you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your bougainvillea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for California

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in California

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