If you’ve ever wondered about adding Bougainvillea for some summer color dress maybe this picture will make you think twice. This plant tops about at about 8 feet and is completely dressed with color from head to toe.
Bougainvillea is found in many landscapes not only in south Florida but all across the southeast and California. Bougainvillea care is not difficult when planted in the ground but container care does require a watchful eye. Don’t let them dry out!
The ‘boug” is usually grown as bushes but standards are beginning to find their way in as a spring flowering addition.
The popular Bougainvillea plant derives its name from the paper-thin, brilliantly colored bracts, or scale-like leaves, that form perky geometric frames around the small flowers.
Click to Read Our Bougainvillea Plant Care Tips Here.
A lax-stemmed, woody perennial in the South, the bougainvillea is a showy subject in Northern greenhouses and in containers in gardens, and for indoors in a large sunny window. It is even tolerant of seashore growing conditions. Originally, the dominant color was magenta-purple; but their are many exotic shades of salmon, orange, gold, and red.
Bougainvillea – Good Soil and Drainage
These plants are content with any good soil, as long as drainage is provided for. They flower best when they receive full sun, and in temperatures no less than 60 degrees. Summer and early fall is the season of active growth, when flower buds are set; generous feeding is helpful during that time. Flowering is reputedly in spring, but my vines – and others I have known – have flowered at intervals during the year. Transplant or repot with as little root disturbance as possible. If the vine is frostbitten, simply cut it back to living wood.
Pruning Bougainvillea May Be Necessary
Pruning is necessary to keep the plants within bounds. After flowering, cut back the season’s growth severely, and remove all thin, weak, or ailing branches. The less dense the vine, the more outstandingly decorative. Propagate by seeds, when available, or by spring stem cuttings rooted in heat and humidity. Among the colorful species varieties offered are:
Bougainvillea glabra – The familiar magenta species. Its variety sanderiana is more generous with flowers. Another variety, harrisi, has gray-green foliage variegated with splashes of white. This little beauty flowered for me, in almost transparent lavender, when it was only four inches tall.
Bougainvillea spectabilis (braziliensis) – Hardiest species, with somewhat furry foliage and red-purple blooms.
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Common Name: Paper Flower
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
I smiply love my bougainville plant, I have it in a hanging basket? My guestion is will the hot winds of the south cause drying of thr2vine or is lack of water or fertlization the cause.
I have plenty of flowers, however few leaves???
I need to know if bougainvillas will grow in sand!
We have a house in Mocambique where we would like to plant bougainvillas,but the house is right on the beach.
What can be done to make the soil more attractive,if needed.
Then I would like to know what is the best way to grow cuttings from plants, and which part of the plant would be the best to make cuttings of.
Are there any newly cultivated bougainvillas that have bigger and more flowers?
Thank You in advance!
I have a bougainvilla plant that is loaded with foliage but no blooms. I am not sure what to do to make it bloom.
How are Bouganvillias propogated? I have not had any success with rooting clippings.
I have a bush type that has what look like catapiller larve all over the leaves and look as if they are eating the leaves. What can i use to rid this??
i want to know if a bouganvilia can be grown from cuttings. What do I need and how long will it take for roots to start in water or other mediums?
Am fed up with cutting and trimming my bplant. it is usually all over the place. am really a novice gardener. and want to try and keep it contained a bit as i have a small garden and it usually chokes the other trees. any suggestions? is it ok to cut the the thicker branches? thanks
I have my first bougainvillea plant. It has little white blooms on it. I was not aware there were white ones. I got this as a gift and I was thinking it had deep rose colored blooms. Can this be possible?
please can you tell me how to prune. l did read in a book to cut off the water shoots but not sure what part of the plant they are. thank you.
I bought two bouganvillea lastweek. The one plant isnt doing very well. I left it in the pot and plannted in my garden. We had a storm lastweek and all the flowers fell off. Will they grow more or do I have to trim it back
IN READING YOUR STATEMENT, YOU DON’T MENTION IF BOUGAINVILLAS DO WELL IN THE GROUND AND TRAINED ON A LATTICE FENCE? IS IT BEST TO KEEP IT IN A POT AND TRAIN IT?
I purchased two bougainvilea plants from a nursery in April; one is fuchia, theother purple. They both did well in hanging baskets on my front porch where they get full sun all afternoon every day until about a month ago when they stopped blossoming. They are healthy looking plants otherwise and I water them almost every day because it is very hot now here in Mississippi. Why did they stop blooming?
I am a northern (UP of Michigan) gardner and bought my first ever bougainvillea this summer as a potted plant…the blooms are beautiful and I am going to TRY and winter it in my south-facing window…my question; should I and how should I prune it for health and good spring growth…it isn’t the fullest-planted specimen-I’d like to reduce it’s somewhat spindly branch growth habitus if possible.
I’ve had my plant for over 3 years, it was in bloom when I got it. It has never bloomed since. I have repotted it and it looks lovely, nice leaves. It’s outside in the sun. Gets rained on and fertilized.
What is wrong???
my plant has grown probably 4 ft since march, but not a bloom in sight. same
thing last year, i think it only put on 5 or 6 blooms all last year. i have moved
it to a different spot this year, lots of sun, i fertilize with miracle gro liquid
feeder every 3 wks or so. the foilage has gone crazy!! so I feel that the plant is getting good sun, water, food, drainage. i have even tried something called
bloom buster, but no blooms. plant is beautiful and green, very full.
HELP!
What zone for planting is Okla in?
my bougainvillea has yellow leaves–is this too much/too little water or is it some sort of fungus?
I would like to know what kind of fertilizer using for bougainville. I have bought two bougainvilles but after 2 years one blooms and the other just have a lot of leaves and no flowers at all. What I have to do?
My plant was blooming beautifully. I went out one day and all the blossoms had fallen off! I asked my husband what he had done to the plant. He said, I was going to ask you the same thing.” Why?
It is planted outside, in Florida, on the west side of the house and gets lots of sun,
little black spots eat new growth and no bloosems
i live in lanzarote out side the bar i work in there is a bougainvilla tree and for 6 years i have watered and looked after it but she has grown so tall she is leaning to one side 2 years ago i cut her but no growth on that stem can any one help . it is white , dont want to loose her thank you c
Have a Bonsai Bouganvillia and the leaves have been falling off after the plant quits blooming. Can you tell mey why. It is outside and I live in California so I know it is not from the cold.
Thank You
My new bougainvilleas have pale green leaves and have not bloomed since they were planted by our Gardener – what could be the reason, anyone???
I have a Bougainvillea in a hanging basket in full sun. (I live in PA) It has thick vines and leaves, but no blooms. I give it light Miracle grow every other week. One nursery told me to pinch back some of the stems, which only yielded more stem growth. What can I do to promote blooms?
Thank you.
I would like to know what kind of fertilizer using for bougainville. I have bought two bougainvilles but after 2 years one blooms and the other just have a lot of leaves and no flowers at all. What I have to do?
My bougenvilla looks great and gets the pink leaves on the ends of the green leaf but then for some reason the pink dries up and dies before blooming. It is planted in the ground, plenty of sun and I water every other day… help!??
My bouganvilla plant is very healthy but no blooms. It is in the sun for more than 5 hours and in a very large pot. Do I need to prune the bottom stems to force it to bloom? I have had one in the past and it bloomed continually in the same spot.
I live in Atlanta and have 4 beautiful Bougainvillea’s (red, white, orange and pink) in a 5 gallon pots in full sun by the pool. I have saucers underneath mine and give them each 2 gallons of water (from the air conditioner units) twice a day. What very little water accumulates in the saucers is soon gone. I trim them way back and bring them in the garage during winter season watering them maybe once a month. During the summer, the 1st of every month I put 1/2 cup of fertalizer in them that i can find only at the Home Depot stores in Florida called Bougain (6-8-10). My plants enormous, approx 5-6 feet wide and 4-5 feet tall and are just loaded with blooms all summer. They just out do themselves. Friends and neighbors just are stunned at how big and beautiful they are. Hope this helps!
My bougainvillea is on the balcony of my condo facing So West, in NW Florida. I have had the plant for over a year. When I got it, it was full of blooms. This year I had one bloom after pruning it back last winter. Now the leaves are falling off but it appears new ones are growing, however some of them are falling off also. How can I get it to bloom. I have been using bloom buster fertilizer. I keep it a little moist at all times and it is not in a saucer. I would appreciate your help.
I purchased 2 Bog’s this year. One is like a bush and the other is trained to grow like a tree. I live in NY and I would like to bring them in for the winter. I was told to cut them back, put in a darker area, and water very little. Then put them in a window starting in March. Does this sound correct? They were very colorful this summer in the sun.
I’ve received a lot of help from your site and I thank you. What I would like to know is how do I train my bougainvillae into a tree. It’s growing tall like crazy, but I need to keep it inside as the winters here are too harsh. Thanks for your answer.
Lidia in North Ontario Aug. 24th, 2010.
I would like to plant a bougainvilla plant in a pot facing the west with full sun. I live in So. Calif. and it gets hot in the summer. The wall I want to but the plant next to really heats up.
Thanks
6mths ago I planted a an 18inch bouganinvillea at the base of a tree.Just a decorative tree -which gives no shade — It gets full sun from 3.00pm until sundown –I live in south Florida. It is now about 5′ high–is wound around the trunk -looks beautiful and healthy. NO BLOOMS. Gets watered from the sprinklers every other day –plus we get a lot of rain during the summer months. Any suggestions –should I relocate to another location with full sun? My landscaper tells me that it will eventually bloom — What do you think?
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