During the Summer season nothing is as dazzling as expansive drifts of vibrant, drought-resistant Bougainvillea in eye-popping colours.
A vigorous climber, this evergreen plant can reach 5m or more, with arching stems armed with sharp thorns. The colourful blooms are not actually flowers but bracts, and the real flower is the small centre of the bract.
Choosing the Perfect Spot for Bougainvillea
The choice of varieties and colours is vast, so before you rush out to purchase this stunner consider where you want to position it in your garden:- To cover a wall, clamber over a pergola, in a container or as a colourful security hedge. In a small garden a dwarf variety is the best option as they only grow to 1 and half m high.
The bracts of Bougainvillea are available in a wide choice of shades including magenta, red, pink, orange, yellow, purple and white.
Planting, Care, and Popular Varieties
Bougainvilleas love heat and thrive in at least 6 hours of full sun a day. When planting dig a large hole in free-draining soil, with good compost added, and feed the plant weekly during the growing season. Using a high-potassium fertiliser when the bracts appear will intensify their colour. Water moderately as over-watering can cause the roots to rot. Prune after flowering to maintain the shape and encourage more vibrant growth.
There are three species of Bougainvillea: B. Spectabilis, B. Glabra and B. Peruviana.
Popular, reliable varietes include ‘Barbara Karst’, in vibrant red, ‘Raspberry Ice’ with variegated foliage and magenta flowers, ‘California Gold’ with beautiful golden-yellow bracts. Smaller varieties suitable for more restricted outside spaces or containers are ‘Miss Alice’ a compact variety with white blooms, ‘Bambino Baby Sophia’, a dwarf variety that will reach 1.5m in height bearing orange blooms and ‘Oo-La-La’, a dwarf cultivar with magenta-red blooms which grows to approximately 46cm tall. Large hanging baskets look amazing planted with ‘Temple Fire’ or ‘Tropical Rainbow’.
