Charming and unique garden bougainvillea is an excellent choice for the southern regions
Those who have seen bougainvillea at least once in their lives cannot forget it, because this plant is one of the most beautiful and unique. The homeland of the evergreen shrub is warm Brazil, which explains the peculiarities of its cultivation in the local climate.
Bright flowers on the branches, similar to origami, are not inflorescences at all, but stipules. Depending on the variety, they can be of different colors and even shades. The flowers themselves, around which these "paper" leaves are located, are rather small and are most often presented in white and yellow tones.
Popular types of garden bougainvillea
In nature, there are up to 20 species bougainvilleahowever, only a few hybrids are able to survive outdoors, and even then only in the southern regions. In the rest, the plant is most often grown as an indoor crop. In addition, it can often be found in greenhouses.
Unlike indoor bougainvillea species with their compact size, garden varieties have impressive growth and can reach 10 m without pruning.
As a garden plant that can winter outdoors, the following varieties have proven themselves well:
- Bougainvillea nude (smooth)... Strongly branching liana up to 5 m in height has smooth creeping shoots, which lignify with age. The leaves are dark green, with a glossy sheen. Bracts can be painted in different colors: from white and yellow, to orange and red. Blooms for a very long time.
- Bougainvillea Peruvian... Straight, not branching, shoots are covered with green bark and short spines. It blooms with yellow inflorescences several times per season. The bracts are pink in color.
- Bougainvillea is beautiful... A dense, large-sized shrub with long, fast-growing shoots (up to 10 m) covered with thorns. The leaves are pubescent. Bracts are colored lilac-red, fading over time.
Features of growing garden creepers
Since bougainvillea is by its nature a real tropican, it grows in the garden only in a warm southern climate. However, you can plant it as a tub plant and take it outside for the summer.
When the soil temperature drops below 5 degrees Celsius, the roots of the shrub die.
Maximum warmth and light is what bougainvillea needs. It is also necessary to water it abundantly, but only in the summer. From autumn, watering should be gradually reduced until they are completely stopped in winter.
If a tub with a plant hibernates indoors, you need to occasionally moisten the soil so that it does not dry out at all.
As a top dressing, you can use organic matter (humus) - add it during planting and mulch the ground under the bush. In the spring-summer period, use phosphorus fertilizers (no more than 4 times a month).
Garden bougainvillea needs regular pruning. In spring it is necessary to prune branches to stimulate branching, in summer to form a bush, and in autumn to cut off the tops of young branches and remove half the length of last year's ones.