PLANT PRIMER
Great Bougainvillea
Light: full sun
Height: 15 to 30 feet; it’s a vine
Spread: 15 to 25 feet
USDA Hardiness Zone: 9 Origin: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina
The Great Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis) is a lovely flowering vine. The shiny-green leaves are an ovate shape, with a strong center vein. The plant has sharp thorns that are hidden by the foliage.
This fast-growing tropical evergreen is considered a vining shrub and uses its thorns to hook and cling to itself and other surfaces, such as trellises, fences and other plants.
Papery purple bracts surround tiny white/ cream-colored, trumpetshaped flowers. These colorful bracts are modified leaves; although they look similar to the plant’s true leaves, these bracts don’t photosynthesize. Instead, the function is to protect the flower and attract pollinators.
Bougainvilleas bloom on new wood. This trait creates difficulty in getting the plant to bloom.
Bougainvillea are drought-tolerant and happier when slightly dry; they should be watered deeply but not left to sit in water.
In central Ohio, bougainvillea can be a wonderful summer container plant.
See the vibrant bracts on the great bougainvillea bonsai now on display in the Dorothy M. Davis Showhouse during the bonsai show at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.