Saturday, March 7, 2009

Pretty picture: Bougainvillea NOID

I believe I'm coming down with a cold. Sore throat all day yesterday, coughing, sneezing, swollen lymph nodes, etc. This kinda sucks. Let's try not to expect too much from the blogging for the next few days.

But you're here for the plant, so:


I'm not a big fan of Bougainvillea. They drop bracts everywhere in the greenhouse, and they have thorns that are sharp enough to stab me through jeans at work, both of which make it difficult to find suitable places to display them. (That second problem also comes up with Pandanus spp., screw pines.) They are colorful, though, which I suppose is a positive. I don't know anybody who grows them indoors (not even WCW!), though I've had customers buy them with that intent. None of them have ever reported back to tell me how it went, though.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The colors are pretty, I agree. Yours are looking good. Is that a hanging plant? Looks to me like it.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather. :-(

Bouganvilleas grow like weeds here in Mesa, AZ. I can't imagine anyone growing them as an indoor plant for the very reasons you mentioned: bracts everywhere and killer thorns. Also, they grow out of control and have to be pruned regularly.

Love the blog, btw. Very entertaining and informative. :-)

mr_subjunctive said...

blossom:

Yeah, we have three of them in smallish hanging baskets, and then there are a few others around in larger pots.

CelticRose:

When I lived in South Texas, I remember they were around, but I never paid all that much attention to them. I didn't find out they had thorns until this job, and I found out in the obvious way.

Sunita Mohan said...

They're fantastic draped on a fence! They add a lot of colour to it, and with those evil thorns, can you imagine any burglar would dream of climbing it?

Nancy in Sun Lakes AZ said...

When you live in the desert in Arizona, like I do, you have to love a plant that blooms beautifully all year round and is so easy to grow here that it is planted along the freeways even!
Yes, it has thorns, but so do a multitude of the plants growing in the desert! I love them dearly--but it's my poor DH who has to trim them!

Aiyana said...

I know of several folks who grow Bougainvillea indoors. A friend in Seattle has several. When I visited her, the plants were sparse and sickly looking to me (since we have such specatacular outdoor Bougainvillea)but she thought they looked especially good that year. She had them in a glassed in sun porch.
Aiyana

HarryLou said...

I am late to the party... but have a nice Bougainvillea that lives in a big pot. Outdoors in the summer, indoors in the winter (Virginia) ... I cut it back each year. Have had this plant for years