Bougainvillea: how to tame the obstinate beauty

The riot of the flora of the southern countries impresses everyone who has been there. And one of the most vivid impressions makes bougainvillea. White, purple, violet, purple, pink, yellow and cream brushes of this plant hang from the hedges, decorate parks and gardens. I want to take such beauty home, so tourists bring bougainvillea cuttings. But not always this tropicana takes root at home. What is the secret to growing bougainvillea?

Description of bougainvillea, its origin and features

European flower growers became acquainted with bougainvillea in the 18th century. This wonderful plant was discovered in the South American jungle by the French botanist Commerson. He took part in a round-the-world study trip led by Louis Antoine de Bougainville. In his honor they called a previously unknown flower. Bougainvillea was brought to Europe, but it turned out that the north was contraindicated for her, she felt good only in greenhouse conditions: greenhouses and conservatories.

At large, bougainvillea is a rather large plant, it can grow up to 15 meters

Now bougainvillea has settled in the tropical and subtropical zones around the globe. It grows where the temperature does not fall below +5 degrees. This bright creeper is a favorite plant of masters of landscape design. Its plastic shoots easily take any form. And the color palette is so rich that you can draw a picture with bougainvillea. There will be only blue paint.

There are bougainvilleas in all colors and shades of the rainbow, except for cyan and blue.

At home, this wonderful plant is also gradually being developed. Even 20 years ago, bougainvillea was considered an extremely difficult flower to care for. Now there are varieties adapted to the content in the apartment.

The bracts of the bougainvillea are thin, gathered in long fluffy tassels, very similar to garlands of paper. Due to this similarity in the southern countries, the plant was given the nickname - a paper flower.

Bougainvillea flowers are good in their own way, but the main charm is bright bracts

In the natural environment, bougainvillea is a large (up to 15 meters) liana or bush. When living in a room, it is rarely higher than one and a half meters. The shoots of the plant are equipped with spikes and eventually become covered with bark. Leaflets of medium size (up to 8 cm), they are smooth or slightly pubescent, oval in shape with a pointed end. The yellowish tubular flowers of bougainvillea form at the ends of branches, they are small and not very expressive. And the plant is given a picturesque look by lush bright bracts - snow-white, lilac, purple, fiery-orange, purple, pink, yellow or cream and beige.

New varieties of bougainvillea combine several colors or change color over time

The color, thanks to breeders, is becoming more and more. There are already two-tone bougainvilleas and color-changing bract petals. Real flowers fade quickly, in 2-3 days. And bracts retain decorative for a long time. And bougainvillea blooms for a long time from spring to late autumn at room content. In vivo flowering can last up to 9 months.

Bougainvillea, which was previously considered difficult for indoor maintenance, is increasingly grown on window sills.

The difficulty of growing bougainvillea at home is that it requires a lot of light all year, high temperatures during growth and flowering and high humidity. And wintering should be cool and with almost dry soil.

Long-lived bougainvillea is growing in Brazil. This is a 15-meter tree, and its age, according to botanists, is over 200 years.

Bougainvillea is ideal for creating a standard tree

But you can adapt to the habits of the obstinate Tropicana. And then bougainvillea will delight and surprise with wonderful flowering and unusual shapes. From this plant you can grow a bush with a cascade of colored brushes, form a standard tree or creeper on a pyramidal, round or some other support. Looks great bonsai from blooming bougainvillea.

From bougainvillea it is possible to form very decorative flowering miniature trees

Species, hybrids and varieties

Bougainvillea is a member of the nocturnal family. There are only 15 species in her family. Of these, only three: naked, wonderful and Peruvian, as well as numerous varieties and hybrids derived on their basis - are suitable for cultivation at home. Breeders worked not only on the coloring of the bracts, but also made the leaves variegated, smoothed and blossomed the thorns and improved the character of the obstinate beauty.

1. Bougainvillea is wonderful, or beautiful, native to the tropics of Brazil. This fast-growing (up to 9 meters) liana with prickly shoots has chosen rocky slopes. In our country, it can now be seen in the Caucasus and Crimea. She has slightly pubescent stems and velvety oval leaves. The flowers are yellowish-greenish, large bracts are lilac or red-pink. In tropical regions of the Bougainvillea wonderful hedges are grown, it serves for decorating gazebos. In an apartment, it is often grown as an ampel.
2. Bougainvillea naked, or smooth, differs in smaller, compared to remarkable, spikes, and the absence of an edge on the shoots and leaves. She is also a native of Brazil and prefers mountainous terrain. The branching stems of this creeper do not grow more than 5 m. At home, it is often grown in the form of a bush and it is from it that a bonsai is formed. The plant blooms long and luxuriantly. Bracts of naked bougainvillea are snow-white, lemon-yellow, apricot-pink, soft-purple, bright orange or scarlet. For greater decorativeness, cuttings of plants of different colors are rooted in one container, they are woven together and receive unusual multi-colored compositions.
3. Peruvian bougainvillea stands out with green bark. Its stems are covered with small spikes and smooth foliage. The plant does not branch well, pruning is required to create a fluffy bush. But Peruvian bougainvillea, if it is drought-free, blooms several times a year. Around yellowish flowers rounded bracts are formed, as if dented, and the color is from bright pink to purple.
4. Bougainvillea Butt is a natural hybrid of naked and Peruvian. He bears the name of his discoverer, Mrs. Butt, she discovered an unusual plant in her garden in the city of Cartagena (Spain). The hybrid has larger leaves and bracts, blood-red and dark pink.

Based on two types of bougainvilleas, beautiful and naked, many varieties are bred. These hybrids are distinguished by a variety of color of bracts and their shape (terry ones), variegated leaves and plant size. The most famous hybrid varieties of bougainvillea:

• Sanderiana - one of the most unpretentious varieties, blooms rapidly, sometimes several times during the year, bracts of bright purple color;
• Vera Deep Purple - a bright raspberry bracts and long lush flowering;
• Crimson Lake is distinguished by bracts of all shades of red: from pale scarlet to purple-burgundy;
• Golden Tango has bright yellow large bracts that surround very small flowers;
• Double red looks original thanks to red multilayer (terry) bracts;
• Double Pink - another terry variety, lush bracts are painted in all kinds of shades of pink;
• Strawberry Lace is decorated with terry bracts with a contrasting raspberry-white color;
• Bois De Roses - a variety that changes color, at first the bracts are bright orange, gradually turn pink;
• Double Lilarose with luxurious bracts, all shades of pink: from lilac-lilac to salmon;
• Variety Surprise - the result of a kidney mutation, on one plant branches with differently colored bracts: pure pink and white-pink.

A separate group is variegated (variegate) bougainvilleas. These plants, thanks to the bright foliage, do not lose their decorativeness between flowering periods. But they grow more slowly and are more moody. Some variegated varieties:

• Orange Ice - white-yellow-green variegated leaves and bright orange bracts look very original;
• Mini thai - a miniature bush with rich green leaves bordered by a white or golden stripe, bracts pale pink or red.

Types and varieties of bougainvillea with different bracts, simple and spotted leaves - photo gallery

Video: the formation and transplantation of bougainvilleas

Tropicana conditions (table)

How to organize summer content?

In the southern edges of bougainvillea is a garden plant. In the wild, for the blooming Tropicana, there is everything she likes: plenty of space for growth, sun, fresh air and soil. In a more severe climate, bougainvillea would not mind spending at least summer on the street. And great if you can send her to the garden or to the country. Russian lovers of this plant talk about the positive results of such a "vacation." Pots with bougainvillea without pallets put directly into the garden. The roots through the drainage holes go into the ground. The growth over the summer can be half a meter. Bougainvilleas with this content eat with neighbors in the garden. Tropical beauty perfectly absorbs organics, for example, a solution based on horse manure. From such top dressing of the plant "rod like horses", flower growers are divided.

Bougainvillea has a whim: she is bad at relocating. It is not necessary without special need to move the pot from room to room or turn it so that the light evenly falls. It is especially important not to disturb bougainvillea during the formation of buds and flowering. From stress, she can start leaf fall. Define a permanent place for the plant according to its needs and do not touch.

Bougainvillea does not like a change of place and pot

Landing and transplanting

Bougainvillea negatively transfers displacement not only from place to place, but also transplantation. The plant adapts for a long time after replacing the pot, does not want to bloom, dries the leaves. Therefore, the tropical beauty is transplanted when it is impossible otherwise: the roots stick out from the drainage holes, the growth has stopped due to the depletion of the soil. Then wait for spring and resettle it. In fact, this will not be a transplant, but a transshipment with the maximum preservation of an earthen coma.

The new container for bougainvillea should be 2-3 cm larger than the previous one. A volumetric pot is useless to her. If there is a lot of soil, it will build up the root mass, then greens, and flowering will be delayed. In addition, in a large capacity, moisture often stagnates, and this threatens to rot the roots. The material from which the pot is made does not really matter. But it’s better to plant tall bougainvillea in ceramic, it is heavier and will be more stable. But the presence and size of the drainage holes are important. Excess moisture should not remain in the ground.

The soil of bougainvillea will like loose and moderately nutritious, with a neutral level of acidity. You can plant it in the soil for flowering plants, adding coarse sand or chopped moss. Or make up the substrate yourself:

• leaf and soddy earth, coarse sand - all equally, add a little vermiculite or brick chips for friability;
• 1 part of leaf and sod land, 0.5 - coarse sand and humus;
• 2 parts of any flower substrate, 1 each - vermiculite and soil for cacti;
• turf land, peat, humus and sand in equal parts, add coal chips;
• two parts of leaf and peat land plus one part of turf land and sand.

Make a drainage layer from expanded clay, fine pebbles, broken red brick or crumbled foam. The larger the pot, the more pour the drainage.

Transplant tropical liana

1. We prepare a pot, soil and drainage, sterilize everything.
2. We put a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot, on top - a little soil substrate.
3. The day before, do not water the bougainvillea so that the earthen lump is a little dried up, it is easier to get the plant out of the old pot.
4. Carefully remove the flower from the old container, inspect the roots. We remove the rotten ones. Carefully release a few outer roots from the soil.
5. Set the bougainvillea in a new pot, straighten the released roots.
6. For better adaptation in a new pot, the roots can be sprayed with a stimulant (Epin, Zircon).
7. Slowly, we fill the space between the earthen lump and the walls of the pot, shaking it.
8. We compact the soil with our fingers, taking care not to damage the roots.
9. Water the tree abundantly and spray its crown. Humid air will help to adapt faster.
10. We put the transplanted bougainvillea in a permanent place (necessarily sunny). But about a week or, if necessary, shade it longer.
11. When the plant has settled, take care, as usual.

Flower from the store

You brought the purchased bougainvillea home, do not rush to put it to the rest of the plants, but keep it in quarantine for two weeks. Give her a bright spot. Water heated (+35).Let the bougainvillea get used to the new home.

1. After about 10 days, stop watering to dry the soil.
2. Remove the plant from the pot.
3. Remove the film or the seating container, if any.
4. Shake off the substrate from the roots.
5. Transplant bougainvillea into fresh soil, the drainage layer is preferable from foam.
6. Do not deepen the root neck.

Home Care for Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea will not let the grower get bored. It requires high humidity, walks in the summer and relative coolness, yet the plant is tropical in winter. In addition, it needs to be cut and shaped, otherwise it will be scruffy overgrown. And, of course, watering and nutrition should be appropriate for the time of year.

Watering and feeding

In spring and summer, bougainvillea craves more water. It grows, blooms, so moisture is vital for her. Water the plant on average twice a week with lukewarm and soft water. But even in summer, you need to protect the roots from waterlogging. Be sure to drain excess from the pan.

With the onset of autumn, watering is gradually reduced, increasing the interval and reducing the volume. In winter, follow the rule: the cooler the room, the more modestly watered. If the temperature is close to the minimum (+5), the soil should be dry. A signal to completely stop watering is dropping leaves.

During growth and flowering, bougainvillea needs to be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers

In the warmer months, bougainvillea should be fed. At least three times a month. You can alternate organics (fermented manure) and mineral complexes. In early spring, you can give fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, so that foliage grows better. And from May, phosphorus and potassium will be more useful to maintain flowering.

During hibernation, bougainvillea is not fertilized.

Some gardeners also advise feeding bougainvillea in winter, the diet should be unconventional - sweet or dairy. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in a glass of water. Or 2 tablespoons of milk in a glass of water. With such solutions, water the plant every 10 days.

Flowering period

Florists often complain that a healthy and well-groomed bougainvillea does not want to bloom. Perhaps this is due to errors in care or improper conditions of detention.

Bougainvillea blooms well after a cool winter and in the bright sun

The following conditions are necessary for lush and long flowering of bougainvillea:

• coolness (+ 10-12, possible lower to +5) during the period of winter rest;
• a lot of light (4-5 hours of direct sunshine are needed);
• cramped pot;
• food containing phosphorus and potassium.

The flowering of bougainvillea can be spurred, causing her drought. If the plant does not form buds, try to cancel top dressing and sharply limit watering. The flower will start to form buds from shock, then water and fertilize bougainvillea again so that it does not weaken.

Sometimes flowers appeared at the end of spring, wilted, but there weren’t new ones. In this case, you need to cut off the faded branches, then the second wave of flowering will begin.

Rest period

In winter, bougainvillea needs special care. The plant does not feel well without the sun, so all processes slow down. The tropical beauty becomes sleeping. She needs to be provided with an illuminated but cool place, with a temperature of + 10-12 degrees or lower, up to +5. In warm regions, bougainvillea may well overwinter on a glazed balcony. In the northern regions, it is more difficult to create optimal conditions. You can put it almost close to the cold window glass and fence off the rest of the room with a screen to keep it cool. With cold contents, a fairly moderate level of humidity is enough. It is necessary to cancel water procedures. Watering is limited to a minimum, feeding is stopped.

In the southern latitudes, bougainvillea is left to winter on a sheltered veranda or loggia, at a temperature of +5 degrees and above. In order for the plant to survive the winter comfortably, it is necessary to insulate the roots. Under a flower pot, wrap with foam rubber, batting or other insulation and lay foam foam under it, mulch the top of the soil with peat or sawdust.

But spraying the foliage of bougainvillea is possible and necessary if the temperature is around + 18-20 and above. Otherwise, dry air and heat will lead to leaf fall. During a warm winter, bougainvillea may bloom, but it is bad for the health of the plant. It will not have time to relax and build up strength for flowering in the summer.

There is a lot of light and during rest, bougainvillea, even in abundance, especially variegated varieties. Therefore, add artificial lighting. Conventional incandescent bulbs are not suitable. Install special phytolamps, gas-discharge or fluorescent lamps. The most effective LED lamps.

With the approach of spring, the sleeping bougainvillea must be awakened: the temperature of the content is gradually increased, and the soil is moistened more.

Correct cropping and shaping

Bougainvillea becomes disheveled and scruffy if not cut. A haircut is done at any time of the year. In the fall, before leaving for winter holidays, the branches are shortened by half. Thanks to this, the bush is rejuvenated, and the side shoots grow more actively. Pruning in the spring is a healing procedure. Unnecessary, weak, uneven branches are removed, too long are made shorter. In summer, wilted brushes are removed, such pruning stimulates new flowering.

It is not recommended to trim adults, older than 3 years, lignified branches. With age, the number of sleeping kidneys decreases. And pruning the old shoots, you risk: young side branches may not appear.

Bougainvillea tolerates pruning at any time of the year

Bougainvillea is positive in pruning. And its branches are very plastic. Therefore, without much effort they can be given an interesting shape. For example, plant plants with differently colored bracts in the same pot and bind them. Place the vine on a support of any shape, grow a fluffy bush or stump. Patients can experiment by forming bonsai from bougainvillea.

And also, in the form of a tree you can grow a durant, read about it: //diz-cafe.com/rastenija/duranta-kak-vyrastit-nebesnyj-cvetok.html

Care Mistakes and Help

If bougainvillea seems to have dried up

On the eve of hibernation, after transplantation or other changes, bougainvillea can pretend to be completely dry and dead. She discards all the leaves, leaving only a bare trunk and twigs. But do not despair and throw away the plant. Check if it is alive. Cut a twig and see if the slice is alive - that means the bougainvillea will come to life. If this happened in the winter, keep it cool and dry; the soil should only be barely moist. If in the warm season, try the "package on your head" method, arrange a flower for a greenhouse.

In winter, bougainvillea can look completely lifeless

Diseases and pests: treatment and prevention (table)

Propagation of bougainvillea

Bougainvillea can be grown from cuttings, air layers and seeds. The first methods retain varietal characteristics of the plant.

Cuttings

Cuttings are carried out in summer or late spring, while not all plants are rooted. There are especially “difficult” bougainvilleas that need a special substrate. Green immature shoots, as a rule, do not take root. The best effect will be when using greenhouses with bottom heating.

1. With a sharp clean knife, cut 10 cm young cuttings covered with young bark. The lower cut is right under the kidney.
   

   Cuttings should be 10 cm

2. Remove the lower leaves, treat the cuttings in a solution of a growth stimulator (Kornevin, Epin).
3. Prepare the soil mixture (peat with sand), for complex cuttings - the substrate: finely chopped sphagnum moss, sand and coal, vermiculite.
4. Cut the cuttings in a moist substrate into 2 internodes, placing obliquely at an angle of 45 °.
   

   Cuttings are planted at an angle

5. Place in a warm place (+ 21-25 ° C) with diffused lighting. Cover with a lid or foil.
   

   To root the cuttings, heat and high humidity are needed

6. Spray and ventilate plantings regularly.
7. After rooting, plant the young bougainvilleas in separate pots. Accustom yourself to the bright sun gradually.
   

   Fashion bougainvilleas do not immediately put in the bright sun

Video: propagation by cuttings

Layering

Bougainvillea cuttings take root much better than cuttings. And they carry out such reproduction at any time of the year. But in this way you can get only a small number of plants.

1. Choose a healthy shoot, cut a bark on it around the circumference.
2. Bend it to the ground and attach.
3. Sprinkle a light substrate on top.
4. Soon, shoots will appear from the axillary buds.
5. When the layer becomes stronger, separate it from the mother plant and plant it in a separate container. And you can immediately root layers in another pot.

Seeds

Seed propagation is very complex. Because getting seeds from a home plant is almost impossible. In nature, bougainvilleas are pollinated by hummingbirds or moths. Artificial pollination fails due to the small size of the flower. However, some gardeners manage to find seeds through the Internet. But very often, instead of bougainvillea, unidentified plants grow. Although there are successful breeding experiments in this way.

Bougainvillea seeds are a rarity

Reviews of Bougainvillea

Not everyone succeeds in growing bougainvilleas from cuttings; I have been growing them for many years, and it’s not always rooted. Sometimes all take root, and then a couple of nth quantity. Need warmth and humidity! When it’s hot in the greenhouse, I put a jar of cuttings in a shade under a tomato bush, I don’t even cover it with a film, and the humidity in the greenhouse is already so high. The cuttings are ripe, but with the growth of the new year, I throw activated charcoal into a jar of water, dip the cuttings in root or stand in heteroauxin. In such conditions, 100 percent of the cuttings are rooted in me.

olesya16//frauflora.ru/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=1905&start=60

Bougainvillea turned out to be very grateful and very easy to grow a flower. I bought it in the store "Your Garden", so I guess it is Dutch. I bought a small flowering plant last year (in the fall). After some time I transplanted it into an ordinary universal mixture and put it on the window. The window is most likely southwest, the sun is somewhere from 3 to 7. It bloomed almost all the time, took only a short break in the spring and was actively growing. All this time I was pinching her, I didn’t want her to stretch. And in the summer she decided: to please me so. Yes, it stands in the open sun, watering almost every day.

Galina//ourflo.ru/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=978

Bougainvilleas in winter need careful watering and cool maintenance. If the room is too warm, you need to light up at least two hours in the morning and evening. Leaflets can blacken due to the bay or partial loss of roots. Dry the ground and watch for a week; if blackening continues, a transplant is likely to be required. In the usual schedule, the leaves turn a little yellow and fall off.

Viktoria//homeflowers.ru/yabbse/index.php?showtopic=2693

Two plants I grow in the form of bonsai. They have shallow containers, trays, a little land, I shape, in the spring I use the Athlete, after flowering I do the pruning, the plants bloom again. One is 4 years old, the other is 5 years old. Their stamp is 15-20 cm. Several short skeletal branches, their growth is directed to the sides and down. Small flowering branches grow on them, which, as they grow, I bend with a wire, after flowering I cut them almost close to the skeletal branch. With each trim, the new growth is almost completely deleted. When the plants bloom, 5 cm look higher and more luxuriant.

amateur flower grower//frauflora.ru/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=1905&start=60

Bougainvillea, which was previously considered a capricious and obstinate beauty, upon closer acquaintance it turns out to be a completely compliant plant. She doesn’t need so much: warmth and humidity in the summer, coolness and dryness in the winter and always a lot of sun. So feel free to join the club of lovers of this wonderful flower and admire its beauty every day.