STUNNING PLANT FOR A VERY SUNNY SPOT
BOUGAINVILLEAS COME IN MANY FORMS AND ARE FANTASTIC FOR ADDING COLOUR
IT’S the time that bougainvilleas shine. This spectacular plant struggles through the wet season with overcast weather, high humidity and rain; bougainvilleas like it hot and dry with lots of sun.
Bougainvilleas naturally grow in an area from southern California to Peru, where they thrive in arid and semi arid environments within a tropical climate. In these conditions bougainvillea will flower continuously.
In the Wet Tropics bougainvilleas flower during the drier, winter season. To grow bougainvilleas in the Wet Tropics plant them in a position where they will receive six hours or more of full sun daily: a hot western position is generally best.
For many people bougainvilleas are problematic as they require regular pruning and as most varieties have sharp thorns on heavy hardwood this can cause issues for homeowners when disposing of the prunings. There are however, varieties that do not grow five stories high and have less aggressive thorns which require significantly less pruning.
Bougainvillea Little Guy is a naturally dwarf variety with a nice compact growth. It grows around one metre in height and two in width. The thorns are small, but sharp, thankfully, Little Guy requires little pruning, just a twig from time to time to shape the plant.
Little Guy produces bright purple bracts that hold on the plant for many months. This is an ideal plant for a hot sunny position where nothing else seems to prosper. Little Guy is ideal for growing in a container in a hot position such as a western aspect or close to a cemented driveway or pool.
Double Bougainvilleas produce heavy clusters of flowers along new season’s growth. The double varieties are a little less vigorous than the glarbra species types and their thorns are smaller.
The Bambino or shrub bougainvilleas have been bred by Queensland nurserymen, Jan and Peter Iredell in their bougainvillea nursery in Brisbane. These bougainvilleas do not produce long radical shoots with hook like thorns that will cover the side of a building in one season of rampant growth. Instead, the Iredell’s have selected their series of Bambino, shrub type, bougainvilleas for their compact growth and flowering performance.
Bambino, shrub bougainvilleas are now available in a wide range of bract colours and many with variegated leaves. The bambino varieties can be used for topiary, espalier or growing in a hanging basket.
Prune Bambino bougainvilleas heavily after flowering finishes, generally December with the start of the wet season. Apply a general fertiliser and lightly mulch with compost. Add a bloom booster when fertilising in mid autumn, around this time of the year, which will help to promote long-lasting winter blooms.
If you have the space and the ability to prune and you wish to achieve a waterfall of coloured bracts over a fence or up a tree then the old varieties are unbeatable for their ability to display masses of brilliant bracts in a pallet of vibrant colours.
Species bougainvilleas produce sharp, radical, thorns on hardwood branches. Heavy gloves and long handle ratchet secateurs are necessary to safely tackle the pruning of these magnificent flowering climbers, a job which will need to be done every year.
Bougainvilleas flower on new summer growth, do not prune hard in the winter flowering season as the bougainvillea will tend to produce prolific, thorny, vegetative, growth with no flowers.
Bougainvilleas are tough, hardy plants, they are salt tolerant and can survive in a pot for weeks on end with little to no water provided. They are however, intolerant of wet feet, therefore, no saucer under the container and place it on pot feet to ensure perfect drainage. When placing the pot in the yard choose the hottest position available.
As tough as bougainvilleas are, they have a fine root system which can shear away from the hardwood trunk when transplanting. Take care to hold the plant firmly and do not twist the stem when adjusting the plant in the pot. It’s very easy to end up with a bare trunk and nothing but the roots left behind in the old pot.
Without a doubt the bougainvillea is the most dramatic flowering climber for tropical regions.