Nyctaginaceae

Bougainvillea

Summary

When you mention bougainvilleas most gardeners conjure up an image of a climber that goes up the fence, over the shed and disappears. But there are many compact varieties that are suited to smaller gardens and produce abundant crops of flowers for which the genus is renowned.

They're South American in origin and they were named in honour of the French explorer, Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Just three species B.peruviana, B.glabra and B.spectabilis are the parents of the varieties we enjoy today.

Flowering Season: Summer, Autumn, Spring

Ideal for Australian Conditions

Bougainvillea is one of Australia’s most vibrant sun loving plants with a high salt tolerance. They are drought tolerant, vigorous, long flowering, sprawling climbers that grow with neglect! It is a resilient and massively floriferous plant and is found largely in lots of Australian gardens growing up to 40ft high. Having challenging thorny branches and heart shaped leaves, Bougainvillea flowers in varied blazing shades of pink, red, orange, white, burgundy and purple.

Growth HabitsThese vines are so versatile that they can be shaped to grow as a standalone tree…

or can be scrambled over a fence…

Or supported by a strong trellis…

They can be also designed to form a main entrance arch…

Or in pots and hanging baskets…

or as Groundcover…

Even espaliered…

And hedging.

Don’t let it get out of control unless you are after the unusual!

Care:

Full sun to semi-shade.Well-drained soil.Cut off taller or wayward shoots to prune into a shrub and maintain height and size. Can be clipped to shape.Will flower for most of the year. To get flushes of colour through the year fertilise after flowering. A month later there will be another flush of colour lasting for six to eight weeks. This continues throughout the year, particularly in warmer climates. If grown in pots, water thoroughly then leave until the soil is dry before rewatering.

PropogationCut the stem from the parent plant.

Remove excess leaves and trim. Certain parts will not grow or take root, so you clean them up. Discard any green, more recent growth. This will not root.Remove 50% of any leaves remaining on the piece to root.Cut the older woody sections into 2-4” pieces.

Prepare and treat the nodes. Nodes are where roots are most likely to form, so you should cut and treat the nodes to speed growth/propagation. Cut the bottom of each piece where a node is, and cut on an angle so that it is at least slightly pointed.Nodes show up as bumps or lumps on the old wood.These are the areas in which natural plant growth hormones are at their highest concentration.Wet with water the bottom of each piece, and dip lightly in a rooting hormone, also known as a rooting acid.

Wet the soil and insert the cutting. Wet the rooting soil thoroughly (any decent soil will do) before inserting the small, prepared cuttings at an angle. Avoid planting them upright at a ninety degree angle. A forty five degree angle will assist in more of the cutting actually rooting.Keep it moist and shady. Keep the soil moist to muddy for the duration of the rooting process and keep in 60-70% shade.

Wait for it to sprout. Sprouting on the cutting will happen over time, perhaps eight to ten weeks.

Leave the cuttings until four to six leaves have appeared. Be careful not to disturb until the roots are ready. Leaves will start to appear, but that does not mean the roots are ready to go. Avoid removing cuttings when the first leaves appear. Growth in leaves simply means the rooting process is near to happening, not that they have already rooted.Avoid pulling up cuttings to check on root growth, as this is disturbing to root growth and often, the cutting will die.Leave the cuttings alone once they are set in the soil. Most people inhibit rooting by constantly checking to see what is going on.

Know when the cuttings are ready. Remove the cuttings after three months, and after shoots with four to six leaves have grown. Seeing significant roots means it is time to put into separate small plastic pots, and to begin moving them slowly from mostly shady towards the sun.

Do the three stage process to full sun. You need to do this step by step to keep the plants happy. Leave them in each area with more sun for one week. This is called "hardening off" in tropical areas.Following the move into full sun, wait one week and then plan on how or where you are going to plant them.Once in a pot or ground, provide extra water for a period of one month so that a taproot can grow more deeply.

Great for Pots!Bambinos

These have been bred or introduced to Australia by bougainvillea expert Jan Iredell.

The new varieties grow to around 1.5m (5 ) tall and wide. ′They still have thorns but they are not as sharp or as big as the larger growing varieties.

Bambino ‘Zuki’Variegated foliage with a purply-pink flower

Bambino ‘Bokay’

Flowers open a soft golden orange and mature to a mauvy pink colour giving a bicolour effect.

Bambino ‘Pedro’

Strong reddish orange flowers which would work well in a Mediterranean-inspired garden

Bambino ‘Shaba’

The new flowers are orange fading to mauvy-purple with age giving a bicolour effect.

Bambino ‘Majik’

White colour that blushes pinkish purple, particularly in a sunny position

Bambino ‘Miski’

Starts off a sort of orange colour that fades to a purplish pink and in between has a tango shade. It has grey-green foliage and suits a garden full of hot coloured plants.

Bambino ‘Krishna’

A weeping variety that flowers in an iridescent mauve.

Questions?