The best thing about bougainvillea can hardly be overstated; its vibrant hues offer you magnificent colour to sun-loving landscapes. This vigorous grower isn’t fussy and is easy to grow as long as it gets sunlight. People who reside in the warmer zones of 9 and over can love this tropical beauty outside in the garden throughout the year. For those that reside in cooler climates, but don’t despair — you can develop bougainvillea outdoors in containers and bring it inside when temperatures dip below freezing. No matter where you reside, you can delight in the beauty of bougainvillea.
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Botanical name: Bougainvillea spp
Common name: Bougainvillea
Where it will grow: Hardy to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (USDA zones 9 to 11; find your zone). Can be grown in a container and taken indoors during winter in zones 8 and below.
Water necessity: Low to medium
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 15 to 30 feet tall and 10 to 20 feet wide
advantages and tolerances: Drought tolerant once established; water then enable the soil to dry out before watering again.
Seasonal interest: Deep magenta blossoms appear from lush, green foliage spring through fall.
When to plant: Spring, summer or fall
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Distinguishing traits. The rich hues of bougainvillea will be the reason that this tropical, vining shrub takes center stage in several tropical and semitropical landscapes. Surprisingly, the vibrant colours don’t come from the blossoms, but from the bracts that surround the somewhat unremarkable little, cream-colored blossoms.
Sharp thorns are concealed underneath lush, green foliage.
Shown: ‘Barbara Karst’ bougainvillea with miniature cream-colored blossoms surrounded by colorful bracts
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Bougainvillea thrives in areas that receive hot, reflected sun. If you expand it in the shade, it will produce attractive foliage but few blossoms. In zones 9 and over, you can develop bougainvillea outdoors annually. In zones 8 and under, you can grow it outdoors in containers during summer and make it inside when temperatures dip below freezing.
Bougainvillea ought to be kept some distance from the pools, since its bracts create a fair quantity of plant litter.
Shown: Magenta and white bougainvillea varieties
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The colours of bougainvillea change based upon the variety and include burgundy, magenta, orange, pink, purple and white. Bougainvillea with variegated foliage is also available.
‘Barbara Karst’ has brilliant magenta coloring. ‘California Gold’ has a exceptional golden color. ‘Imperial Delight’ has white bracts edged in pink. ‘Orange King’ has burgundy-orange bracts. ‘Raspberry Ice’ has variegated foliage with dark pink bracts. ‘San Diego Red’ has a beautiful dark red color. ‘Singapore White’ has a smaller growth habit and produces white bracts. ‘Torch Glow’ has an unusual vertical growth habit and magenta bracts.
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In zones 9 to 11, the heaviest flowering of bougainvillea happens in spring and early fall when the length of days and nights are roughly equal, although it does last blooming in the summer.
Shown: ‘Torch Glow’ bougainvillea
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The best way to utilize it. Since bougainvillea is such a showy plant, it looks great planted alone. It’s extremely flexible and can be utilized to cover a bare wall when trained up on a trellis. You can even create a vibrant entry by training bougainvillea up within an archway.
Shown: Bougainvillea grown as a loose tree
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Bougainvillea makes a fantastic privacy hedge and can also be trained up into a little tree. Surprisingly, this big, vining tree does quite well when grown in containers.
Shown: Orange bougainvillea trained up on a trellis
Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting
Planting notes. Plant it in full sun and well-drained soil. Water deeply and then permit the soil to dry out before watering again. Overwatering results in lush green foliage but few blossoms.
Insert a complete slow-release fertilizer for your bougainvillea in spring. Be mindful to not overfertilize, which can cause a reduction in flowering. Prune frost-damaged growth when the danger of frost has passed in spring. Bougainvillea can be formally pruned into a hedge, but flowering will be reduced.
Shown: Bougainvillea grown as a hedge
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