Bougainvillea After Freeze: What To Do & How It Comes Back
Seeing bougainvillea after freeze damage can be scary, especially when those beautiful, colorful plants suddenly look dead. I found that out the hard way when cold nights hit my garden. The bougainvilleas had blackened leaves, drooping tips, and looked awful for a while. Here’s what I did and how they recovered over the next nine months.
I live in Tucson, Arizona (USDA zone 9b), and the winter of 2018/2019 was cold for us desert dwellers. A few nights dropped into the mid to upper 20s, and bougainvilleas all over town got hit. As I update this in February 2026, it’s been a much milder winter, with only one night at 32°F and no freeze damage.
I’ve grown bougainvillea in two climate zones – Santa Barbara, CA, and Tucson, AZ. They grow in USDA hardiness zones 9-11. Find your growing zone here.
Note: This post was published on 11/13/2019. It was updated on 2/9/2026.
This wall of beautiful bougainvillea grows in Santa Barbara, where I lived for 10 years. Evenings rarely dipped below 40°F, so freeze damage wasn’t much of a worry.
Bougainvillea After Freeze: Tips & Answers To Questions
About My Bougainvillea That Winter
My bougainvilleas were hit by three nights of below-freezing temps, between 26 and 29°F. The good news is that those cold nights in 2018/2019 were staggered over a few weeks. Back-to-back hard freezes are tougher on bougainvillea because that’s when the root system is damaged.
With bougainvillea after a freeze, things can look worse than they are. More than half of my Bougainvillea Barbara Karst initially looked dead, but the damage was mostly to the leaves and branches. The roots were fine. By the end of winter, most of the plant had bounced back, with only a few lower branches looking dead.
To get a better idea, click on the links below to see how it looked and what I did in April:
Barbara Karst, growing out in the open driveway area, took the most damage, while the bougainvilleas in my courtyard, tucked up against the house, had very little.
I’ll answer questions and then share a simple timeline of what happened, what I did, and how it affected blooming. Since ‘Barbara Karst’ grows fast and flowers extensively, it’s a great example to learn from.
Can Bougainvillea Survive a Freeze?
Yes, it can. What really determines whether bougainvillea survives a freeze is how many consecutive cold nights there are and whether the ground freezes.
In my case, most of the outer branches and foliage got hit, but the roots were fine because the soil never froze. The damage turned out to be mostly “cosmetic.”
What is the Lowest Temperature Bougainvillea can Tolerate?
The sweet spot for bougainvillea is above 32F. Anything below can cause light or extensive damage. Tucson is slightly colder in winter (USDA zones 9a/9b) than Phoenix (10a/10b), where bougainvillea is more likely to remain unharmed.
If your bougainvillea has some protection, it can handle occasional lower temperatures much better. For example, my ‘Barbara Karst’ growing out in the open driveway area took the most damage, while the bougainvilleas in my courtyard, tucked up against the house, had very little.
I first learned a lot about this topic years ago when I originally wrote this post. I had lived in Santa Barbara for ten years, where winter evenings rarely dip below 40°F. Bougainvilleas are more winter-marginal here in Tucson, but you still see them planted all over town.
How Does Bougainvillea Come Back After a Freeze?
It depends on how badly your plant was hit, when you pruned it, and where it was growing. Mine against the house, across from a large pink grapefruit tree, didn’t get nearly as much damage as my ‘Barbara Karst’ out in the open driveway area. Those by the house also have a thinner growth habit and flower less because the grapefruit tree shades them.
My ‘Barbara Karst’ did come back and looked great by fall, but in spring and summer, it still showed signs of freeze damage. I keep it pruned as a full shrub instead of letting it climb, and I don’t let it get too tall. I waited until mid-April to prune, although I probably could have done it a little sooner.
If yours is tall and you cut it way back after a freeze, you’ll most likely get lots of leafy growth at first.
How Do I Prune Bougainvillea After a Freeze?
Wait to do any pruning until the evening temperatures have consistently warmed above 40F. You can read and see how I pruned mine in these two posts: Bougainvillea after a hard freeze, part 1 and part 2.
I keep my Barbara Karst pruned as a shrub and don’t want it to get too tall or wide. How you prune yours will depend on how badly it’s been hit and the form you want it to take. You might need to prune yours three or four times during the growing season to get it back into the shape you like.
Can You Prune Bougainvillea in Winter?
It depends on your growing zone. In Santa Barbara (USDA zones 10a/10b), I gave my bougainvilleas their heaviest pruning in late January or February. That’s the pruning that set the shape they kept for the rest of the year.
In Tucson (zone 9a/9b), where I now live, I wait until the end of February into March because the evening winter temps are colder. Daytime winter temps can be warmer than in Santa Barbara, but it’s the overnight temps that do the damage. Bougainvillea is semi-dormant here during the colder winter months, so I feel it’s best to leave them be.
Do you have questions about growing bougainvillea? I answer commonly asked questions about bougainvillea here.
My Bougainvillea Looks Dead. What Should I Do?
That one bougainvillea of mine looked like a total goner for a few months. I did lose a little of it, but most survived and came back beautifully. The top and outer branches took the hit, but I left them alone until evening temperatures warmed up. Plus, I saw new growth on those branches, showing me it was time to start pruning.
So, the best thing to do is wait. It’s tempting to grab the pruners when your bougainvillea is covered in dead leaves in January, but cold snaps can still come along. We had another freeze at the end of January and even a brief snow in February. I’m glad I resisted, because my bougainvilleas are beautiful now!
The tip of the branch may be dead, but the rest is often fine. If you’re unsure whether a branch is alive, do a quick scratch test. Gently scrape the bark with your fingernail or dull knife. If it’s green underneath, it’s still living and worth keeping.
Here’s how it looked at the end of March. Lots of dead branches with most of the green growth in the corner near the house & garage, where it’s more protected.
How Do I Protect My Bougainvillea From a Freeze?
A low-growing variety, like my Bougainvillea ‘Blueberry Ice’, can be covered. Bougainvilleas growing in containers also tend to stay smaller, which makes them easier to protect.
I use old sheets for my cold-sensitive plants, but frost protection fabric, frost cloth, or frost blankets are other options. In the morning, uncover your bougainvillea once temperatures rise so sunlight and air can reach the plant again.
With taller varieties growing in the ground, covering isn’t so easy. A few things really help them get through cold weather: don’t prune too late or too hard in fall, apply a good layer of mulch (2–4 inches) over the roots, and wait to prune until winter is over and evening temperatures have warmed in late winter or spring.
Before a freeze, water the soil if it’s dry. Moist ground holds a bit more warmth than dry soil. Also, make sure whatever you use to cover the plant is secured so wind doesn’t blow it off during the night.
What to Do After a Freeze: Care Tips
Not much.
- Keep watering as usual.
- Don’t rush to prune while nights are still cold.
- Wait for new growth before cutting anything back.
Once the nights of below-freezing temperatures have passed, you can start pruning. I removed about one-third of the branches on the right side of my ‘Barbara Karst’ because they were the most exposed and took the worst hit. I also removed any dead branches in other parts of the plant. The branches I kept were pruned back to where new growth was starting, since many of the tips were dead.
After the tallest branches were brought down to about 7 feet, I did some light, aesthetic pruning. That meant removing sucker growth and water shoots and opening things up a bit. I like my ‘Barbara Karst’ to act as a screen between the patio and driveway, but still look airy instead of like a dense blob. Since bougainvillea blooms on new growth, pruning is how I get that big show of color every year.
During summer, I do very little to my bougainvilleas because the temperatures are high and the Arizona desert sun is fierce. The plants don’t like much pruning at this time, not to mention the discomfort factor for me. I just thin a little on the inside and pinch a few tips.
After pruning, keep an eye on the watering. A stressed plant can dry out faster, especially in warm, windy weather. If you plan to feed your bougainvillea with compost or fertilizer, wait until freeze danger has passed before doing so.
A close up of the blooms in early November. The color is much deeper than in the hot months. By the way, the actual flowers are the tiny white centers. The colored leaves are called bracts, the same as poinsettias.
How & When my Bougainvilleas Bloomed
The spring and summer blooms were lackluster compared to previous years. My Barbara Karst is the big bloomer, and the other three follow suit more lightly. Flowering in spring was light and in summer intermittent.
This part isn’t really about freeze damage, but it’s worth mentioning. Tucson summers are hot and sunny, and bougainvillea color tends to fade in extreme heat. When temperatures cool, the color deepens again. My ‘Barbara Karst’ is a gorgeous deep rose-red, but in summer, it looks much lighter and more washed out.
After a freeze, bougainvillea puts energy into recovering and blooming, so lighter flowers early in the season are normal while the plant is bouncing back.
What I did in November
Nothing too drastic. I lightly pruned my Barbara Karst to lower the height and tame any branches sticking out too far. My Bougainvillea Rainbow Gold growing against the house is a different story — it’s climbing above the roofline, and I pruned it down by at least five feet.
My bougainvilleas were in peak bloom in early November, and I didn’t want to cut off all that floral goodness. I waited a couple of weeks to do the pruning. Our first hard freeze usually comes at the end of December, so I like to do the pruning at least four weeks before the cold weather hits so the pruned branches have time to harden off.
The fall pruning goal with bougainvillea is to tidy things up without pushing out tender new growth that the first cold snap could damage.
My Rainbow Gold shooting up over the roofline.
Video Guide
Conclusion: What I learned most from dealing with bougainvillea after freeze is to exercise patience. It was tempting to prune when my plants looked dead in January and February, but I waited, and they came back just fine.
How you prune your bougainvillea depends on the type you have and the form you want it to be. One of mine grows as a shrub, while the other three are espaliered against the house, so each one gets a slightly different touch.
Bougainvilleas don’t grow much during the colder winter months. That’s the time to resist the urge to do too much, unless you live where nights stay mild. The best time is when the danger of freezing nights has passed – then you can spring into action with the pruners!
Happy gardening,
