Bougainvillea care is simple, but there are a few tricks to get the best blooms on these iconic garden plants. Whether you’re searching for the best way to grow Bougainvillea on pergolas or trailing it up the side of the house, the results are mind-bogglingly beautiful.
With flowers that come in every shade, from reds, oranges, blues, white, pink, magenta and purple, there is a bougainvillea for everyone.
Keep reading to find out how to care for bougainvillea, and check out our list of the best bougainvillea to grow in your garden.
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What is Bougainvillea?
Bougainvillea is a popular garden perennial that comes back year after year. Like all climbing perennial plants, it needs specific pruning at the right time to get the best flowering the following year.
Apart from that, these vibrant plants just need a little love and attention through summer to get the best from them. While we tend to think of bougainvillea as a vividly colorful flowering plant, the flowers are actually bracts.
Bracts are just adapted leaves that store color compounds like carotene to entice pollinators. Bougainvillea flowers are actually tiny, quite dull, white petalled structures in the center of each bract cluster.
As we’ll discuss later on, there are plenty of ways to grow bougainvillea, but for the best results you’ll need rich but free-draining soil and a shaded spot for their roots.
Genus: | Bougainvillea |
---|---|
Species: | N/A |
Common Names: | Bougainvillea |
Location: | Indoor or outdoor |
Type: | Climbing perennial shrub |
Growth: | 10-90ft |
Sun Requirements: | Full sun, with shaded roots |
Foliage Color: | Green / Variegated |
Flower Color: | Red, pink, white, purple, magenta, blue, or orange |
Flowering: | Spring to summer |
Fruit: | None |
Maintenance Level: | Medium |
Poisonous for Pets: | Non-toxic to cats and dogs |
Bougainvillea’s Natural Habitat
Bougainvillea is thought to be native to Brazil, thriving in exposed positions, but has naturalized in tropical and subtropical climates all over the world.
It is also the national flower of Grenada and grows incredibly well in the wild across most of South America and the Caribbean.
Best Bougainvillea Varieties to Grow at Home
1. Bougainvillea Raspberry IceBougainvillea ‘raspberry ice’ is a compact variety with gorgeous variegated foliage, topped with magenta-pink bracts and elongated white flowers in the center of each bract cluster. They are easy to grow in most climates but should be protected from frosts. | |
2. Bougainvillea Scarlett O’HaraBougainvillea Scarlett O’Hara is reliably evergreen in frost-free areas, so with a little winter mulch, you can keep a green clambering wall, covered in foliage right through winter, and get an early flush of colorful red bracts in spring. While Scarlett O’Hara is a particularly tall cultivar, reaching 20ft after 5-6 years if well fed, it can be restricted and grows beautifully as a trailing hanging basket plant. | |
3. Bougainvillea FormosaBougainvillea Formosa is perfect for cooler climates with excellent cold resistance. While it is still not frost-hardy, it can be grown in most parts of the US in a sheltered position with full sun. What’s really great about Formosa is the knock on effect of this cold weather resilience, which means it flowers through into late summer when most bougainvilleas have stopped producing bracts. | |
4. Bougainvillea AfterglowIn containers, bougainvillea afterglow will reach around 8ft tall, but planted in good compost in the ground, with a slightly restricted root run, it can reach well over 30ft tall. Afterglow has gorgeous peachy orange bracts that start as russet and eventually turn a rich rhubarb color as they fade. | |
5. Bougainvillea New RiverThe bright purple, pointed bracts of bougainvillea New River are simply stunning and can easily cover the side of a house after 7-8 years, though it is slightly slower growing than some cultivars. | |
6. Bougainvillea EspinosaBougainvillea Espinosa has pale pink or purple bracts depending on the soil pH but produces a delicate pink on typical garden soil (around 5.5 pH). The pale chalky green foliage makes it perfect for a cozy style of garden and provides a gentle backdrop, rather than the garish tones of many other cultivars. | |
7. Bougainvillea Tomato RedYou’ll be hard pushed to find a brighter red from a bougainvillea bract or any bract for that matter. If you grow poinsettia for a winter display, Tomato Red is the perfect plant to follow that same bract coloring right through into spring. | |
8. Bougainvillea Java WhiteJava white has all the charm of climbing hydrangeas, with much less work. The tightly clustered white bracts form groups of flowers, which disguise their real flowers to look more like anthers. For any formal gardens or public gardens, bougainvillea Java white would be ideal for a pergola over dining areas, or as a backdrop to events. | |
9. Bougainvillea Bridal BouquetBougainvillea bridal bouquet has subtly faded bracts, which run from white at the center to pink at their tips. If their name didn’t give it away they were bred as a long-lasting cut flower, ideal for bridal bouquets and flower arrangements, providing the ideal accompaniment to flowing or dropping blooms. | |
10. Bougainvillea BrasiliensisBougainvillea Brasiliensis can grow up to 30ft in the right place and is covered in bright pinkish-purple bracts. If you want a wilder look to your garden, the long stems grow vigorously after flowering each year, so are perfect for sheltering wildlife. The other benefit of the long stems is that they are quick growing, and easy to train, but do need pruning more regularly than other cultivars. | |
11. Bougainvillea Coconut IceCoconut ice is a slow-growing bougainvillea, which will reach an ultimate height of around 10ft so is ideal for indoor growers, or growers in cooler climates that need to grow bougainvillea in containers to bring them indoors for winter. Once established, it can be cut back by 1/3 every year after flowering to bush it out for next year. | |
12. Bougainvillea Pink PixiePink Pixie’s magenta flowers are a boatful addition to this dwarf cultivar, which only reaches 8-10ft and can support itself without trellis or wires. For smaller gardeners, or for gardeners who want bougainvillea in shrub form, then Pink Pixie is perfect. | |
13. Bougainvillea Picta AureaIf you’re drawn to unusual plants, then bougainvillea Picta Aurea is the choice for you. Its creamy white leaves are tipped with pink or purple flowers (depending on growing conditions) and add a delicate spray of pale foliage to any garden. | |
14. Bougainvillea Golden GlowRussets and oranges are hard to find in perennial plants without compromising on deep golden yellows, so I’m a big fan of bougainvillea Golden glow, which adds warmth when grown over a patio trellis or veranda. There are many other plants that can draw the sun and hold its rays in quite the same way. | |
15. Bougainvillea Miami PinkThe crisp white bougainvillea flowers pop against the harsh pink bracts of bougainvillea Miami Pink. If you want to show the botanical traits of bougainvillea to their max, try growing Miami Pink to show off to your garden-savvy friends. |
Best Bougainvillea Varieties to Grow at Home
1. Bougainvillea Raspberry Ice
Bougainvillea ‘raspberry ice’ is a compact variety with gorgeous variegated foliage, topped with magenta-pink bracts and elongated white flowers in the center of each bract cluster. They are easy to grow in most climates but should be protected from frosts.
2. Bougainvillea Scarlett O’Hara
Bougainvillea Scarlett O’Hara is reliably evergreen in frost-free areas, so with a little winter mulch, you can keep a green clambering wall, covered in foliage right through winter, and get an early flush of colorful red bracts in spring.
While Scarlett O’Hara is a particularly tall cultivar, reaching 20ft after 5-6 years if well fed, it can be restricted and grows beautifully as a trailing hanging basket plant.
3. Bougainvillea Formosa
Bougainvillea Formosa is perfect for cooler climates with excellent cold resistance. While it is still not frost-hardy, it can be grown in most parts of the US in a sheltered position with full sun.
What’s really great about Formosa is the knock on effect of this cold weather resilience, which means it flowers through into late summer when most bougainvilleas have stopped producing bracts.
4. Bougainvillea Afterglow
In containers, bougainvillea afterglow will reach around 8ft tall, but planted in good compost in the ground, with a slightly restricted root run, it can reach well over 30ft tall.
Afterglow has gorgeous peachy orange bracts that start as russet and eventually turn a rich rhubarb color as they fade.
5. Bougainvillea New River
The bright purple, pointed bracts of bougainvillea New River are simply stunning and can easily cover the side of a house after 7-8 years, though it is slightly slower growing than some cultivars.
6. Bougainvillea Espinosa
Bougainvillea Espinosa has pale pink or purple bracts depending on the soil pH but produces a delicate pink on typical garden soil (around 5.5 pH).
The pale chalky green foliage makes it perfect for a cozy style of garden and provides a gentle backdrop, rather than the garish tones of many other cultivars.
7. Bougainvillea Tomato Red
You’ll be hard pushed to find a brighter red from a bougainvillea bract or any bract for that matter. If you grow poinsettia for a winter display, Tomato Red is the perfect plant to follow that same bract coloring right through into spring.
8. Bougainvillea Java White
Java white has all the charm of climbing hydrangeas, with much less work. The tightly clustered white bracts form groups of flowers, which disguise their real flowers to look more like anthers.
For any formal gardens or public gardens, bougainvillea Java white would be ideal for a pergola over dining areas, or as a backdrop to events.
9. Bougainvillea Bridal Bouquet
Bougainvillea bridal bouquet has subtly faded bracts, which run from white at the center to pink at their tips. If their name didn’t give it away they were bred as a long-lasting cut flower, ideal for bridal bouquets and flower arrangements, providing the ideal accompaniment to flowing or dropping blooms.
10. Bougainvillea Brasiliensis
Bougainvillea Brasiliensis can grow up to 30ft in the right place and is covered in bright pinkish-purple bracts. If you want a wilder look to your garden, the long stems grow vigorously after flowering each year, so are perfect for sheltering wildlife.
The other benefit of the long stems is that they are quick growing, and easy to train, but do need pruning more regularly than other cultivars.
11. Bougainvillea Coconut Ice
Coconut ice is a slow-growing bougainvillea, which will reach an ultimate height of around 10ft so is ideal for indoor growers, or growers in cooler climates that need to grow bougainvillea in containers to bring them indoors for winter.
Once established, it can be cut back by 1/3 every year after flowering to bush it out for next year.
12. Bougainvillea Pink Pixie
Pink Pixie’s magenta flowers are a boatful addition to this dwarf cultivar, which only reaches 8-10ft and can support itself without trellis or wires. For smaller gardeners, or for gardeners who want bougainvillea in shrub form, then Pink Pixie is perfect.
13. Bougainvillea Picta Aurea
If you’re drawn to unusual plants, then bougainvillea Picta Aurea is the choice for you. Its creamy white leaves are tipped with pink or purple flowers (depending on growing conditions) and add a delicate spray of pale foliage to any garden.
14. Bougainvillea Golden Glow
Russets and oranges are hard to find in perennial plants without compromising on deep golden yellows, so I’m a big fan of bougainvillea Golden glow, which adds warmth when grown over a patio trellis or veranda.
There are many other plants that can draw the sun and hold its rays in quite the same way.
15. Bougainvillea Miami Pink
The crisp white bougainvillea flowers pop against the harsh pink bracts of bougainvillea Miami Pink. If you want to show the botanical traits of bougainvillea to their max, try growing Miami Pink to show off to your garden-savvy friends.
How to Grow Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea grows best outdoors when it is given space to climb, often reaching well over 20ft up pergolas and walls. But, you can grow bougainvillea equally well indoors with a little bit of care and attention.
Below, we’ll look at how to plant and support bougainvillea in any conditions.
Growing Bougainvillea Outdoors
Bougainvillea are tough plants and can cope reasonably well with competition from annuals planted at their base, but they should be spaced well apart from other perennials, and given plenty of space for their roots to run.
Dig a hole twice the size of their root ball, and gently tease the roots away from the soil before planting. Add compost to the planting hole and gently firm in with your heel. Water them in really well, completely soaking the planting hole once it’s filled in.
This should encourage roots to run down and out immediately after planting, rather than spiraling round in their previous shape.
Soil & Drainage
The ideal soil for bougainvillea is a loamy mix of loose garden soil, rich in nutrients and just slightly acidic. Bougainvillea needs really good drainage as its roots are incredibly susceptible to root rot, but they also need plenty of water.
Finding the balance can be tough, but if you get to know your garden you should be able to find a good spot. Try to find somewhere where the roots will be in shade, but the top growth is in full sun (or plant ground cover like Vinca or nasturtiums which will shade the roots in summer).
Then, check the soil for drainage. If it’s clayish, you’ll need to mix in at least 30% grit, and another 30% compost to get the balance right. If it’s sandy, add loads of manure or compost to improve the nutrition.
Click here to learn more about worm composting and how to make your own worm farm.
Light Preference
Bougainvillea needs full sun. They are tropical and subtropical plants that do best when their foliage receives 8 or more hours of direct light per day, but they can cope with 6 hours provided they are also protected from wind, rain, and hail.
Temperature
Bougainvillea are not hardy plants. They are tender perennials, so if your area freezes for more than a couple of days, or the temperature drops below 10F they won’t make it through winter.
Try to keep them at 70F or more where possible. In colder regions, they can often be kept happy through winter by training up the side of houses, where leaking heat helps to thaw them and protect them from heavy frosts.
Watering Needs
Water bougainvillea at least once a week with a full watering can, or around 10L of water. Aim the water at their roots to avoid wetting their foliage.
While they do like to be dry at their roots, they are fast growers, so need plenty of moisture to support fresh new foliage and bright new bracts right through summer.
How to Grow Bougainvillea in Containers
Bougainvillea are generally happiest in the ground, but for us gardeners in the North, it can be challenging to protect them from frost. Thankfully, they recover well in spring, so if you plant them in a large terracotta pot you can cut them back to a manageable size in late fall and winterize them indoors, or in a greenhouse.
Then simply take them back into the garden when any risk of frost has passed in late spring, and begin watering them again.
The best pots for bougainvillea are terracotta as they help to prevent root rot by allowing water to soak through their walls as well as drainage holes at the base, giving you an easier job when watering.
Growing Bougainvillea Indoors
Bougainvillea are big plants, but they can be trained and pruned to limit their size without affecting their health. This makes them excellent houseplants, which help to oxygenate our homes and add a touch of brightness for even longer through the year.
Bougainvillea grown indoors tend to flower for up to four weeks extra thanks to better-regulated temperatures, but if you can, you should aim to humidify the room slightly, either with a humidifier or with humidifying plants like aloes or peace lilies.
For a reliable humidifier, check out our complete buying guide here.
Propagating Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea Propagation from Seed
In mid-late fall, bougainvillea produces tiny brown seed pods in the place of the small white flowers within each bract. These seeds can be harvested when the pods are dry and propagated at any time of year.
The best time of year to propagate bougainvillea from seed in early spring, indoors, to give them the best chance of germination, but if you can provide them with warm temperatures and even moisture they can be sprouted in fall or winter indoors, and grown on for healthy young plants, ready for spring planting.
Just fill individual pots with loose compost, mixed with perlite. Sow bougainvillea seeds on the surface and cover lightly with compost. Place them somewhere warm, with a clear plastic cover to keep humidity in (Perspex or plastic wrap work equally well).
Water if the soil looks dry by placing the pots in a bowl of water until it has soaked up to the surface. Germination can take up to 12 weeks, so be patient.
How to Propagate Bougainvillea from Cuttings
Like many tropical plants, propagating from cuttings goes against a few of our basic instincts. Rather than leaving cuttings somewhere bright and warm, they actually prefer to develop their young roots in a shady, humid corner, which helps to protect the struggling foliage while roots develop.
Take bougainvillea cuttings in late spring or early summer, when new shoots grow strongly, but before bracts and flowers start to form. Choose a non-flowering stem, and cut just above a leaf node, 4-5 leaves from the tip.
Strip all leaves apart from the young leaves at the tip, and then trim the base with clean scissors just under the lowest node (where leaves once emerged). Dip the cut end in rooting hormone and place in it potting compost.
Soak the compost, and cover it with a plastic bag to keep humidity in, then store it somewhere shaded and cool. Cuttings should root in around 8 weeks, and be ready to plant out the following spring.
Bougainvillea Care Tips
Mulching
Bougainvillea benefits immensely from a winter mulch. In late fall or early winter, before the temperatures drop, cover the base of the plant with 2-3” of leaf litter, bark chippings, or compost (any organic mulch will do).
As well as protecting the plant from frost, the mulch will slowly rot down through the following spring and summer to provide nutrients and help retain moisture.
Check out our review of the best wood chippers, mulchers, and garden shredders here.
Fertilizering Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea doesn’t need much in the way of fertilizer, but if they are growing weakly add a mulch of manure or compost, or sprinkle a granular feed around the base of the plant in late spring when new growth begins.
Liquid feeds can promote foliage, but limit the coloring of bracts, so should be avoided on bougainvillea if you have access to dry fertilizers.
Training Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea grows best on pergolas, which mimics their natural habit of climbing up trees for sunlight. However, in cooler climates, pergolas and trellis can be too exposed to wind and rain, so many opt to train bougainvillea up the side of their homes.
Try fixing wire supports to your brickwork for solid support that can be easily adjusted. This gives bougainvillea enough to naturally cling to but is also easy to tie on with twine for added support when needed.
Pruning Bougainvillea
When you first plant a young bougainvillea plant, pruning is simple; just take a clean pair of secateurs (see our review of top rated secateurs here) and snip them out 4-5 nodes below their growing tips. Cut just above a set of leaves. This promotes more shoots and more flowers.
Once a bougainvillea has become fully established it can stop flowering near the base, so it’s a good idea to prune back on full stem right to the ground in late spring. This encourages new growth next spring, which will produce colorful bracts near the ground as well as at the top.
The best time to give bougainvillea a general prune is just after flowering finishes in late spring. Cut back 6-7 nodes from the tip to encourage more shoots through summer, which will flower the following year.
Common Bougainvillea Pests and Diseases
Bougainvillea are resilient plants but thanks to their low fragrance, and minimal essential oil production they do suffer from many, many, pests.
Thankfully, their disease tolerance is high, so the pests usually cause aesthetic damage rather than problems that significantly affect your plants.
Below, we’ll look at how to control and prevent common pests and diseases with proper bougainvillea care
Aphids
Are a common problem in most gardens, and virtually impossible to eradicate, but there are some natural controls you can take to reduce the populations of these tiny white flies.
Introducing or encouraging wasps and ladybugs in your garden will dramatically reduce aphids. To encourage wasps, make sure you have water in the garden.
Wasps rehydrate more than they eat, so ponds, fountains, or bird baths are a great way to encourage these useful predators. Ladybirds are attracted to scented flowering plants, so marigolds, daisies, and nasturtiums help to attract them into the garden.
For more on dealing with aphids, refer to our guide on here.
Spider mites
These tiny red arachnids are technically spiders, but they behave very differently. They feed on the chlorophyll from the underside of leaves, leaving tiny holes where fungal infections can take hold, and spin webs to protect their young which increases humidity.
Spider mites thrive in dry conditions, so the free draining soil at the base of bougainvillea is a common cause of spider mites. Watering more regularly can help, allowing wasps into the garden can reduce the problem.
Slugs and snails
Slugs and snails can climb to surprising heights, so even the tallest bougainvillea isn’t out of harm’s way. Lay roughly crushed egg shells around the base of your plants to discourage them, or rub Vaseline over the lower stems.
Vaseline doesn’t damage the plant, but stops slugs and snails from being able to climb easily.
Looper caterpillars/moths
Any papery-leaved plant will suffer from caterpillars, but if you feed birds in the garden you are much less likely to suffer from a serious infestation.
Either pick caterpillars off and feed them to wild birds or encourage birds in by hanging feeders near bougainvillea. They will quickly find the caterpillars as well as the seed.
Our review of the best oriole feeders should invite your birds in your garden.
Leafcutter bees
Leafcutter bees cause a lot of damage to ornamental plants, but I would strongly discourage anyone from stopping it. Bees of all types are struggling to survive in a world of monoculture farming, and pesticide-heavy gardening.
When bees eat away at leaves, you will see them carrying small discs of those leaves away. They use them to create tunnels to insulate their larvae in wall cavities and hollow plant stems. Other than imperfect foliage, this causes no harm to bougainvillea.
Fungal and bacterial leaf spot
Fungal and bacterial leaf spots are usually spread by insects climbing across damaged foliage. Fungal problems are particularly exacerbated by dense foliage which holds moisture and encourages higher humidity.
To reduce the risk of fungal spots on foliage, try to keep a well-ventilated structure, removing any dead growth and allowing air to flow through the center of the plant.
Bacterial leaf spot is harder to control but looks similar to fungal leaf spot; small reddish-brown spots, rimmed in yellow, which expand and eventually connect into irregularly shaped lesions.
As the lesions develop leaves and bracts can deform, giving a crispy, curled appearance to foliage. Remove any affected materials, and reduce watering for a couple of weeks.
If the problem persists, treat the plant with an organic fungicide (neem oil is generally safe, but should be used in the evening to limit damage to beneficial wildlife).
Root rot
Poorly drained soil is a habitat to fungi such as Rhizoctonia, Phytophthora, and Pythium that attack the bougainvillea. The leaves will become yellow and the growth of parts or the whole plant will suffer.
Acute cases will cause the bougainvillea to wilt or die. You can stop root rot by applying copper ammonium before planting. Prepare two tablespoons and mix with one gallon of water and drizzle the soil entirely.
Apply every seven to fourteen days as needed. Avoid planting your bougainvillea on water pools and over-watering.
Bougainvillea Frequently Asked Questions
Does bougainvillea grow best in pots of the ground?
Bougainvillea grows best in free draining but rich compost in the ground, where it benefits from good drainage, but is less likely to completely dry out in mid-summer.
Is bougainvillea fast-growing?
Bougainvillea can reach an ultimate height of well over 60ft if left to grow up trees or the sides of buildings, and in perfect conditions will reach that high in under 10 years. In our books that makes them pretty fast growing!
How many times does bougainvillea bloom?
Bougainvillea blooms 2-3 times per year in nature, but in cooler climates will bloom just once in late spring or early summer. Deadheading does not encourage more bracts, so find the brightest spot possible to encourage bougainvillea to flower again in late summer.
How do you train bougainvillea?
Bougainvillea will scramble through fences, pergolas, and up wires and requires no active training or tying in to encourage it to grow vertically.
However, if your bougainvillea is growing in the wrong direction, cut back the misplaced branches to a leaf, shoot, or node that is pointed in the direction you want it to take.
Bring More Bright Colors to Your Backyard by Growing Bougainvillea
If you’re starting a new project or trying to brighten up a sunny patio, bougainvillea is one of the best plants you can add to your garden for reliable color.
If you’re a seasoned gardener, then bougainvillea is one of the most intriguing climbing plants for your growing collection. Its unusual bracts replace flowers, helping it to attract pollinators to small, discreet flowers.
Like most plants we write about here, bougainvillea has some truly inspiring botanical traits and is well worth growing to see them in action.
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