When to Plant Bougainvillea in La Crosse, WI

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in La Crosse can be estimated by reviewing 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.

It's probably 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bougainvillea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bougainvillea
Probably not a good time to plant bougainvillea

The earliest that you can plant bougainvillea in La Crosse 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 little bit earlier by starting your bougainvillea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in La Crosse. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for La Crosse 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 La Crosse you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your bougainvillea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Crosse

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 La Crosse

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crosse.