Saturday, April 28, 2012

Bouganvillea plants belong in containers

I have a love hate relationship with Bougainvillea plants. I love the year round multi color flowers, but I hate high maintenance these plants require. They are aggressive growers needing pruning several times a year, and then there are the spikes. Pruning Bougainvilleas is like going into combat, you always end up with some injuries.
Today I went after my Bougainvillea plant by the front gate.  Below is all I could cut, I'm limited by what I can put in my green garbage bin.  That's two garbage pick up for the week.  I'll finish the job next week.
This week one of my cactus bloomed these two beautiful white flowers.  According the my book this is a Ferocactus Glaucescens, the flowers only lasted one day, but they were stunning. 

16 comments:

Tira said...

I ave the opposite problem to you-I want my bougs to grow and form a spiky but attractive barrier over my front fence, but on my dry island they grow so slowly...

Unknown said...

And the experience I have had with this is beautiful foliage, not color!

DNB Interiors said...

When weather is warm, fertilize bougainvilla with bougain then after a week cut the water...huzah! Blooms.

Floridagirl said...

Well, that is a good problem to have...I know what you mean, though. I've seen them take over whole fences here in my area. Gorgeous, but not for my garden. Hmmm...I wonder if I should try them in pots. You have a wonderful collection of colors!

Susan said...

Love your cacti flower...a real stunner. I love the bouganvilleas but they generally freeze back here which means you have to cut them way back, too. They are beautiful though!

Unknown said...

I love Bougs as they bloom year round in my part of the world (tropical).

marlo said...

Yes, here in the tropics the Bougs grow on steroid and if you have to tend to them or trim them, you have to wage war. Im not a big fan of them and think they are overused

Suwannee Refugee said...

I tried growing bougainvilla one time, but tired of the work associated with them. They started to have the leaves eaten. I tried everything in the book to kill the little buggers that were chewing up my plants. No dice. I guess I'm a lazy gardener.

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sharon said...

beautiful!!

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Stellamarina said...

I have seen an old bougainvillea with a stem diameter of over 12 inches......enough to scare anyone from wanting to ever grow the plant in the ground again. Have grown many bougainvillea in pots and find that they need monthly fertiliser for frequent flowering.

Unknown said...

Your blooming cactus is an Echinopsis and not a Ferocatus yet still beautiful. I grow both and enjoy there blooms every season. Nice post-thanks

Unknown said...

Ferocactus-----oops typo