Bougainvillea

Nyctaginaceae

This pink and white flowering bougainvillea is rather unusual. When I first bought it two years ago, it was pink and only pink. It was in a smaller pot and quit growing when it became root bound. I removed it from the pot, trimmed the roots and top growth and replanted it in fresh dirt in a larger pot. Imagine my surprise when the new leaf growth was variegated and it produced both white and pink flowers. I can't account for it, other than to assume it's a gift from Mother Nature.

Bougainvillea is an evergreen shrubby vine with big thorns. It makes up for the thorns with almost constant color. The flowers themselves are tiny and hard to see. What is truely marvelous and provides the color are the three large bracts that surround the itty-bitty flowers.

I fertilize in spring and summer and water normally most of the year. However, you will have better flowering if you restrict watering in midsummer. Bougainvillea can be pruned with reckless disregard.