Bougainvillea Lady Mary Baring

An evergreen shrubby vine, Bougainvillea is popular for its long-lasting, colorful flower bracts which appear periodically throughout most of the year but are especially plentiful in winter and spring. Although flower bracts of purple or red are commonly seen, cultivars are now available in apricot, white, yellow, and orange. Bougainvillea can be trained to stand alone as a sprawling shrub, or allowed to grow naturally where it will quickly cover fences or climb up into trees. Planted on top of a wall, it will cascade over the side in great bouquets of color. With careful pruning, Bougainvillea can also be used as an espalier or in containers at poolside. It can also be trained as a standard with a single trunked tree. Dwarf cultivars are used as colorful ground covers. Plants can be grown in containers during the warm months in cooler areas of the country. They could be overwintered in a warm spot outside or in a sunny location inside, or replanted each year as an annual.

Bougainvillea can tolerate hot, dry locations fairly well but flowers bountifully in full sun with regular watering. Chlorosis can be a problem in alkaline soil. Regular pruning may be necessary to shape the plant or direct its growth since shoots often grow vigorously, but Bougainvillea tolerates trimming well. These vigorous shoots can stunt growth on the rest of the plant if they are left to develop. Be careful when trimming to avoid injury from the 1 to 2-inch-long thorns. This is generally a low-maintenance plant. Plants often loose many leaves following a flowering period. This usually preceeds a new growth flush. 

SELECT THE FLOWER COLOUR BELOW