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For many citizenry , the vibrancy of this evergreen climber tumble from gateways , walls , balcony and wayside trees get back memories of summertime holidays in the Mediterranean .
Bougainvilleawas break in tropical and sub - tropical areas of Central and South America during a round the world ocean trip by the Gallic explorer Admiral Comte de Bougainville in the late 1700s , explain the plant ’s warmheartedness and its name . Its popularity as a garden works soon spread to many other parts of the world with a like climate , and it is now a common visual sense in places as far abroad as Spain , the Caribbean , the Pacific Islands , Australia and China .
The petals of theBougainvilleaflower are petite and inconspicuous , and broadly speaking white , and it is the flower ’s papery bract that give it the color and long - lasting summertime appeal . The most coarse varieties bring on brilliant flushed or purple flowers throughout the summertime and into early fall , but a wide range of modern cultivars allow for a broad range of mountains of coloration and some will bloom almost class - round under idealistic term .
Bougainvilleais not hardy in the UK . Very few multitude have had achiever with them in the garden , except on dry soil in sheltered spots against south - facing walls in the extreme south and the Channel Islands , or in the most sheltered of inner city heat islands , and even then only with the proviso of additional wintertime tribute .
‘ Barbara Karst ’ is said to be one of the hardy sort that is deserving trying in these areas , though a coarse wintertime will always risk the plant ’s selection . The salmagundi with white-hot and orange flowers are significantly less hardy . However , the plants can be grown in a indoor garden or in a container that can be kept in a sunny spot in the garden during the summer months , then impress indoors well before the first Robert Frost come .
While they are best known as rampant climbers using their waxy irritant to scramble across and attractively adorn pergola or walls , Bougainvilleaplants can be acquire as standards , severely - pruned bush , in hang basketball hoop , as espaliers and other check shapes , or even indoors as Bonsai plants .
This article shows how nurseryman can useBougainvilleato re - create colorful Mediterranean retentiveness in their own gardens in the UK .
Bougainvillea Care
Bougainvilleacomes from sub - tropic climates and needs frost - barren and warm conditions to survive . The master difficulty associated with growing them in the UK is that many variety require minimum dark - time temperatures of 10 ° C . Some will subsist down to 2 ° C , though the coldness may cause them to turn a loss their leave , and they effectively become deciduous .
Most are large and vigorous climbers , so while they can be safely grow in a heated glasshouse or conservatory edge , they do take a lot of space . They can also be grown in expectant containers that can be moved around the garden in summer , but must be brought indoors and go on frost destitute throughout the wintertime . Either means , the plants will require a trellis or pillar for support , and this should be taken into account when considering space essential and the informality of move containers around . Smaller varieties will be easier to manage in a container or more restricted indoor space , and they can be trained as a received or spurring - rationalise to restrain size of it if necessary .
HappyBougainvilleaswill flower over a long period . They should be grown in a very sunny position and kept warm . Once growing well in other May , the plant should be water on a regular basis and fed every week with a high - nitrogen fertiliser . asseverate a high humidity will encourage bloom buds to wear out .
Once the bract have open and are in full people of color , container - grown plants should be moved to a slightly cool though still sunny location and indoor border plants should be protected from the midday sun with blending . This will help to extend the life and color of the flowers . Once blooming , the weekly feed must be changed to a balanced or potassium - rich fertiliser to encourage more bloom .
Once the flowers have dangle , the plant can be foreshorten back by about a half and a atomic number 7 - full-bodied fertiliser used again to further more ontogeny and flowers to form . Once the bud have form , revert to K feed . With some loving care and attention , Bougainvilleacan be encourage to flower up to three times a yr in this way .
Bougainvilleasmust be carefully protect through the winter . Well before the first hoarfrost , container - rise plants should be contribute into a shiny conservatory , garden way or het up greenhouse , where the winter temperature will not fall below 10 ° ampere-second . Lower temperature may not kill a healthy plant , but it may drop its leaves for the winter . Throughout the wintertime until March , the surface of the soil or compost can be allowed to dry out out , but the soil around the beginning must remain moist . If the plant does drop its leaves , then watering should be reduced .
Once warmer weather returns , containers can be taken outside , though it is worth waiting for expected daytime temperatures of 15 ° C and bringing the container back when night - clip temperatures are expected to fall below 10 ° C . Watering and alimentation should be increased , and this is the time to re - plenty theBougainvilleaif this is really necessary .
Light requirements
Bougainvilleasneed a bright , sunny spatial relation throughout the year , but protect plants grown under glass from lineal sunlight during the warmest theatrical role of summer days when the Dominicus is at its hot .
Watering
Bougainvilleasrequire frequent watering during the growing season , especially if develop in containers or with restricted root space . However , the soil must be free draining and the roots must not become waterlogged . permit the surface of the compost or soil to dry out between each lachrymation , but the filth around the stem below the surface should remain dampish . The frequency of watering can be reduced outside the master develop season .
Soil conditions
They do best in a slightly acidic and well - drained but moisture - retentive dirt . An annual lotion of organic mulch each wintertime will help to maintain good soil conditions , but do not use spend mushroom compost , as this will reduce the acidulousness of the soil .
Fertilisers
Bougainvilleais a fleshy feeder and appreciates applications of appropriate fertilisers throughout the growing time of year . A Hz of using nitrogen- and then atomic number 19 - rich feeds timed to check with flowering is better , as outline originally , though for ease an alternative is to utilize a balanced , controlled - expiration fertiliser at the kickoff of saltation and then again when the first flush of flower is over .
Repotting
It is best not to move or re - potBougainvilleaplants unless really necessary , as they choose not to have their rather fragile roots disturbed . They do well when the ancestor organization is constrained , and re - potting will almost ineluctably conduct to reduced inflorescence for a while .
If it is necessary to re - pot , apply a new container that is only slightly gravid than the sometime one and which has plenty of basal holes covered with wiped out crocks for loose drainage . Use two - thirds peat - free potting mixture such as John Innes no 3 mixed with a third of horticultural grit . Many gardeners consider thatBougainvilleadoes comfortably in terracotta pots , though this can leave them vulnerable to antecedent damage if the mess is left in a in full sunny spot through the altitude of summer , where it would require daily watering to keep the roots near the edge of the pot cool . A coir or similar flowerpot liner will help to reduce any risks . When loosening the works from the onetime flock and transferring it to the Modern container , try not to compact , disturb or damage the root - Lucille Ball in any direction , particularly the hunky-dory mesh of feeding roots , as these are very vulnerable to injury .
Looks good with
Bougainvilleais a really showy specimen plant that does not need any complemental companions to be at its best , though where there is outer space it will look most at home with similarly brilliant and cheerful sub - tropic species such asOleanderandHibiscus : relatively unfearing varieties of these are available , and if the military position is suitable forBougainvillea , it should also support them . Arguably , however , the best comrade for a vivid purpleBougainvilleaare an every bit vivid redBougainvilleaand a beautiful whiteBougainvillea !
Pruning
To keepBougainvilleaplants at their best they need a unconstipated pruning regimen .
Firstly , they should be give a estimable annual pruning in other spring to get the plant back into shape . This needs to be completed before the new growth starts asBougainvilleasform flowers on new wood . Take off at least one-half of the duration of old stems and select the best to tie into the living once lop is complete .
second , the plant life should be pruned after each flower of flowers , to stimulate more fresh growth and blooming . They are vigorous cultivator , and with enough feeding and care , pruning after each flowering cycle will not harm the plant : it will help to keep it tidy and in right shape within the blank allocate to it .
Bougainvillea Propagation
Bougainvilleais best propagated by taking stem press clipping or by layering . Both processes are comparatively square , and any problems lean to occur later when the root cuttings are transplanted from the baby’s room pots to their net positions , as they resent ascendant disturbance . The fresh plants want warm , humid conditions to establish , preferably around 20 ° C . Regular becloud with warm water system will be beneficial . The young industrial plant are probable to require two to three years to establish in their final post before they will commence to flower .
Semi - ripe summer cutting are lengths trim from the current twelvemonth ’s growth that has begun to maturate , with some barque beginning to work on the stalk . Use a sharp , sterilised knife to take a 15 cm to 20 cm while of stem , strip off most of the leaves , dip the bottom of the newspaper clipping in hormone rooting powder , and place it into an individual peck of dampen , peat - free compost with a respectable handful of washed Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin , horticultural grit or vermiculite mixed in . Place the green goddess in a vivid greenhouse or cold frame , but out of direct sunlight . New parting on the stem are a good denotation that sufficient stem have form to move the cutting on to its last view .
Hardwood cuttings are taken from the current twelvemonth ’s growth later on in the autumn , after it has matured and has acquire barque . The same process can be follow , but the cuttings should be give some bottom heat about 5 ° C above the average air temperature to advance rooting .
Propagation by layer is achieved by bending a healthy , growing stem down to the soil , making a short slit on the underside of the stalk where it will come to the ground , and then anchoring it into a shoal , watered deep using telegram loops or a tent nog , and then fill again with soil to hatch it . The best time to do this is early outpouring when the flora is just beginning to uprise most vigorously . Once root have develop , discerp the works from the parent with a sharp , sterilized tongue and dig around the young to transfer as much of its undisturbed etymon system as possible to its final fix . More control over the operation can be attain by layering directly into a good deal of cutting compost .
Using the container that will be the last home of the plant life will avoid any ascendent disturbance when the new plant is remove from the parent .
Common Bougainvillea Problems
Bougainvilleas are generally disease free and are not particularly vulnerable to pest infestations . In the UK , any problems are more likely to be related to sub - optimum environmental conditions .
If the works dead drops all of its flowers during the summertime , or it an established plant fails to flower at all , this is more potential to be due to insufficient sunlight or over- or under - watering than to a disease .
Bougainvilleacan evolve leafage yellowing , which is more potential to be due to food - related chlorosis than a disease . A VD of dilute Epsom salts will help to revoke the trouble while the industrial plant is being get back into a more favourable feeding authorities .
Sudden folio drop will almost surely be due to exposure to depleted ambient temperatures rather than a disease .
However , Bougainvilleasin the garden are occasionally assault by aphids , and mealybug , red wanderer hint or scale of measurement can be a trouble , especially for industrial plant grow in glasshouse and conservatories . A couple of sprays with diluted washables up liquid from a mister may help oneself if the plague is trance too soon , otherwise proprietary insect powder and organic solutions are available for indoor and out-of-door use , though tending should be taken outdoors to avoid impacts on beneficial pollinating louse .
Bougainvillea Varieties
Some 300 varieties ofBougainvilleahave been develop and registered , with well over 100 available from specialist nurseries in the UK . The broad family encompasses the intimate climbing bougainvillea that is cover in this article , but also dwarf types , bushyBougainvilleasand even base cover variety show .
Only two specie and one hybrid ofBougainvilleaare in the main cultivate and available in the UK and nearly all of the usable kind have been developed from these .
The colour spectrum ofBougainvilleavarieties ranges from white through pale apricot and orange to magenta , rich loss and the most unremarkably see purples .
The purples and deep magentas admit the popularBougainvillea × buttiana ‘ Poulton ’s Special ’ , which has the RHS Award of Garden Merit , Bougainvillea ‘ Braziliensus’andBougainvillea ‘ Lilac ’ , which grows to a manageable 150 atomic number 96 height and spread . Bougainvillea ‘ Amethyst’andBougainvillea ‘ Alexandra’produce paler purple flowers , and in favourable locations will survive temperature down to 2 ° C .
Pink to red salmagundi include the prolific and relatively hardyBougainvillea ‘ tropic Bouquet’andBougainvillea ‘ Double Delight’,which has unusual three - colored variegated foliation and peak with pink to blench red bract . Bougainvillea×buttiana ‘ Raspberry Ice’has cream margins to its leaves and burnished crimson bloom .
Bougainvillea‘African Sunset’has some of the largest orange blossom of any variety , and others with orange to apricot - colour in flower include the twofold - floweredBougainvillea‘Golden Dubloon ’ , the apricot - pinkBougainvillea‘Rosenka’andBougainvillea‘Miss Manillia ’ , with flowers that open a startling orange tree then change through apricot to ping . These sort are likely to lose their leaf or even perish in temperature below around 8 ° C.Bougainvillea ‘ California Gold’has large bracts of a pallid Au colour and should survive temperatures down to around 2 ° C .
Amongst the livid - bloom variety , Bougainvillea ‘ Coconut Ice’has attractive and varying pale pink mite on the bracts , but for a truer snowy go forBougainvillea glabra ‘ Alba ’ , which has papery ivory white bract with attractive pale greenish veining .
FAQs
Why not grease one’s palms – or grow – a lollipop standardBougainvillea ? Use a 4l sess with good quality compost and lots of grit , and train the plant into a 1 m gamey lollipop , rather like a typical bay testicle . In fact , if you have two , you may use them as colorful and decorative guardians in a sunny locating outside the front or back door during the summer , or around the terrace , and then tuck them into a corner of your conservatory in the wintertime .
Use a smallish and hardier motley ; for a dear and reliable purplish pinko , Bougainvillea‘Alexandra ’ would be a good choice . Keep them well prune to mold throughout the class , both before and after flowering , to wield the lollipop and to keep the flowers coming .
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