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

The USDA zone info for Pierre can be looked at to estimate when you can plant bougainvillea.

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 when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in Pierre 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. If you wait any later than that and your bougainvillea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Pierre the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Pierre is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pierre you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bougainvillea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pierre

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Pierre

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