Pronounciation: Boo-gan-VEE-ya HI-brids

Hardiness zones:
Sunset 5-6 as annual, 12, 13, 15-17, 19, 21
USDA 9 (will sustain foliage and stem freeze damage during coldest winters), 10-11

Landscape Use: Bougainvillea are a common landscape accent plant in Mediterranean, subtropical, tropical, and hot desert climates around the world. Landscape use depends on cultivar and growth characteristics that widely range from ground covers on highway embankments to garden trellis, screening plant, building wall or fence covering, big landscape beach balls, or patio coverings. Dwarf cultivars are demure and ideal as container plants. Best used in oasis or xeric landscape types.

Form & Character: Bougainvillea has a wide variation in form and character related to cultivar growth characteristics. In general, bougainvillea creates a strong tropical, Mediterannean, Spanish or hacienda design feel that is informal, warm, vibrant, engaging and festive.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, broadleaf perennial shrub or vine, amazing variation in growth habit related to cultivar ranging from compact dwarf and diminutive to 2-feet tall to rapid and sprawling to 40 feet in length or more. Vigorous, vining types will need support for height or climbing else they will sprawl.

Foliage/Texture: Alternate, entire, ovate to orbicular leaves to 2.5-inches long, which can tatter in wind, stipular spines on stems a nodes; medium texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers are very small and relatively inconspicuous ranging in color from yellow to white and pink. In contrast, subjacent bracts (typically 3 per flower) are larger and very colorful ranging from pure white, champaign pink, pink, orange gold, salmon, red, magenta to purple. Bougainvillea flowering occurs on new growth and is short day responsive. Flowering also responds to warm temperature and drought. Because of these environmental factors, bougainvilleas flower almost year-around in Phoenix.

Seasonal Color: Colorful bracts produced year around, but are heaviest during fall/winter.

Temperature: In Phoenix, bougainvillea can freeze to the ground during winter when air temperatures drop below 30^oF (a rare occurence these days), but will quickly recover thereafter with bountiful new growth. In contrast, bougainvillea thrives in the desert heat of summer.

Light: Full sun to filtered shade.

Soil: Grows well in clay soils, not as vigorous in sandy soils (sandy soil = fertilize lightly during spring and summer).

Watering: Must have regular deep irrigations in Phoenix, but drying soil promotes flowering. In contrast, chronic overwatering will promote more vegetative growth at the expense of (dampen, supress) flowering.

Pruning: Prune to shape and control spread, can be prune severely (even stooling) once established in the landscape.

Sustainable tip: If freeze damage does occur, then wait until regrowth commences to remove damaged shoots.

Propagation: Softwood cuttings (though somewhat difficult to root), grafting.

Disease and Pests: White flies, spider mites.

Additional comments: There are SO many, many bougainvillea cultivars of variable form and flower bract color! They come in all shapes, sizes and bract colors, some even with variegated foliage such as 'Raspberry Ice'. New selections are being released from all around the world each year! It is extremely important to choose the right cultivar with the growth characteristics to match the demands and constraints of a planting location. Bougainvilleas have a very fine root system. Much care must be given to not disturb the root system during transplanting from container because bougainvillea roots generally do not bind soil. Established bougainvilleas do not transplant well. Bougainvillea glabra is a climbing evergreen member of the family was first identified by Choisy about 1850.

Litter Alert: Beware!! Fallen flower bracts create a HUGE litter problem for landscape "neat freaks! They blow all over the place!