Love it or hate it you can’t go 2 blocks without a bougainvillea sighting. Lots of colors, sizes, shapes, and forms make it a very common landscape plant.
What Does Bougainvillea Need to Thrive?
Sunlight
They need at least 6 hours a day to produce all the colors that we love.
Warm Temperatures
They love the heat. 1 or 2 nights of a light frost won’t harm them but anything more than that could. The recommended USDA zones are 9B through 11.
Drier Climates
They’re better suited to drier climes – we don’t get rain here for 8 or 9 months out of the year.
Well-drained Soil
They’re not too fussy about soil type but it must drain freely. A mixture of loam & organic compost worked into the native soil is what they like.
How to Choose Your Own Bougainvillea
They come in many colors, types & sizes. Colors run the gamut from white all the way to purple. Double-flowered varieties are available too.
You can get 1 with variegated foliage if you want some real pizazz in the garden. There are ground cover & dwarf forms if you don’t want a monster plant. Also, pay attention to height because some of the taller varieties don’t get as tall as others. No lack of choices regarding choosing a bougainvillea tree in Florida.
Planting
Bougs are tough as can be but are big babies when it comes to their roots. They don’t like to have them disturbed. You’ll have much better luck if you leave them in the grow pot when planting. Dig the hole twice as wide as deep & add in a good amount of loam (you don’t need this if your soil drains freely) & organic compost. Water it in very deeply.
Watering
2 words – water deeply. Bougainvillea likes to be watered well & have it drain out. After established, they’re drought tolerant.
Pruning / Trimming
They need it as they are very vigorous growers. You don’t want to prune them if there’s any danger of frost on the horizon. Do a lighter pruning, or trimmings, after each flowering cycle during the seasons to keep them in that shape.
Fertilizing
There are lots of bougainvillea fertilizers on the market but the one that we recommended at the nursery was also for palms & hibiscus.
