Bougainvilleas were named from from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768. Popular in the nursery trade, people often ask me how to care for this beautiful plant. Everyone wants to keep them blooming as long as possible, and there is a way to keep your bougainvilleas looking good all summer. The Bougainvillea bloom is actually a tiny white flower that you can barely see surrounded by colorful bracts of pink, white or purple. It’s the colorful bracts that make this member of the Four O’clock family so attractive and gives it the ability to be seen a mile away.
Bougainvilleas usually come in a 10-inch hanging basket. It’s best to replant in a larger pot or a larger hanging basket because a larger container provides room to grow, is more permanent and you can regulate the supply of moisture and nutrients better than in a smaller container. Always be sure that any container is well drained. Too much water will make the plants wilt and cause the blooms to decline. Most types of bougainvilleas are normally climbers, but for the greatest amount of blooms, train into nice bushy specimen 3 or 4 feet tall. To train into a bush, trim the new shoots back 6-8 inches after the colorful bracts fade or fall off. Since the best color appears on new growth, this will give you the most color over the season. Repeat several times during the growing season, as bloom cycles are 4-6 weeks apart.
In cooler climates, you can sometimes get lucky by putting them someplace in the garden with a southern exposure, and they will come back every spring, but generally Bougainvilleas will freeze to death in the winter. The best way to overwinter your Bougainvilleas is to trim them back to 6-10 inches and bring indoors before the first freeze. Whether in the ground or stored in the garage or greenhouse, you will need to water them occasionally to keep them alive, although they should stay on the dry side. They don’t mind being slightly root bound, so you can leave in the same container. If you would like to repot in the spring, cut off 1 or 2 inches of the outer root ball before putting them in the new container to stimulate new root growth.
Any good potting mix will work for bougainvilleas, but you need to fertilize with a half strength solution of soluble fertilizer once a week for the best show. The best fertilizer to use is timed-release hibiscus food. It has the correct mixture of nutrients for the best performance and you don’t have to add it so often.
Put your bougainvilleas in a bright spot with either half sun or high shade. In theri native Brazil it can be hot, dry and sunny for long periods of time. In fact, they will lose their leaves during dry periods and bloom when they get ample moisture. However, in their native habitat, the roots are in the cooler ground seeking moisture and shade. A plastic container or hanging basket can reach the same temperature as the outside air in the summer or even hotter, so keep that in mind when choosing a location. Direct sun until the early afternoon and then high shade for the rest of the day is good, or direct sun with the roots shaded would also be ideal. If putting in direct sun and not in a hanging basket, try a terra-cotta pot. It will dry out a little faster, but the roots won’t get so hot.
