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Bougainvillea

millymolly2012millymolly2012 Posts: 56
in Plants

As I'm so new to gardening, all my colleagues who garden said a bougainvillea would not grow in the north west & with our coastal winds. 

Well here she is ???? 3 years old & still sending out lots of lovely bracts & flowers. 

Mice been unsuccessful taking a cutting from the plant  if anyone knows the best way way to do this, I'd very much appreciate the advice as I'd love another! imageimageimage

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  • DimWitDimWit Posts: 553

    In warm climates like mine, cuttings take easily, but that's what I do: take 8" long cuttings where the wood is not old yet, neither soft (they call it "semi-hard cuttings"), that is, not green and pliable. Put the cuttings in a pot with a very sandy compost, cover with plastic and put somewhere warm for them to grow.

    BTW, your bouga is lovely, congratulations!

    Last edited: 12 September 2017 22:11:06

  • millymolly2012millymolly2012 Posts: 56

    Hi Dimwit 

    thank you for that advice & for the compliment.  I've been taking cuttings that are to short I think? Do you cut most of the leaves off? I took all the bottom ones off my cutting but left the leaves the top? Is autumn the best time to take a cutting? 

    I will try again with a longer cutting, I'd love to have another ? 

  • DimWitDimWit Posts: 553

    Custom says you should remove the lower leaves because they tend to rot first, fostering the growth of fungi. I don't think it matters much when the cutting is taken provided you give it warmth enough to grow roots. You'll have to keep it in a windowsill or greenhouse (if you have one), because you know bougas can't face the cold.

  • millymolly2012millymolly2012 Posts: 56

    I put a plastic bag over the last cuttings & placed on the windowsill & it looked ok for a while, then all the leaves fell off, I'm going to try again today so fingers crossed ? 

    I move it into a more sheltered place when the winds get bad in the U.K, like now! I thought I'd lost my boug in spring this year as I think spider got it but somehow after a few blasts of the hose & a few treatments she recovered! 

    I've seen some stunning bougs in Ibiza & Thailand, mine will never be that amazing but it doesn't matter to me as I've grown mine in a horrible cold & wet climate & every year I'm delighted she comes back.

    thank you for your help, everyone is so helpful on this site, I was on another forum but people were quite harsh if you did anything wrong so I stopped asking. 

  • grouchergroucher Posts: 59
    Hi Millymolly2012, I have had two Bougianvillea for about 10 months now and they were both potted in (1 x 7 ltr and one x 1 qtr) 1 from a supermarket and one from Westdale Bougainvillea Nursery.  Both are thriving after following the care instructions from the Nursery, the large one is "Gloucester Royale" which is quite vigorous and is now 4ft (120cm) tall.  I have taken a few cuttings from this one and had success with all of them.  In June I took the first one I used the plastic bag method onto the windowsill then into an unheated Conservatory which now has a main trunk 3ft (90cm) tall which has produced Bracts and is now got loads of new shoots on it, in September I took four semi hardwood cuttings which I placed in a propagator in my Conservatory and have two new plants coming along nicely.  The Supermarket one which had no name on it as it was a gift now has woman trunks with many shoots with a height of 3 ft with many Bracts.  I have noticed if they are subjected to a sudden drop of temperature they will shed some leaves but they will return to normal once the temperature warms up again.  I am intrigued about the one you have in a container outside, Can you let me know please?  Do you protect it in the winter and how hard and when do you prune it? and also what do you feed your one on?  It really does look splendid.  Many thanks
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    edited October 2022
    You may not get an answer from this poster as the thread is 5 years old :)
    Someone else may have advice but not me, definitely not tropical shrub territory up here! @groucher
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    “Woman trunks with many shoots…” @groucher?  That’s an impressive thing to grow on a bougainvillea 😆  
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited October 2022
    groucher said:
    woman trunks with many shoots ...
    Intriguing.  

    What are "woman trunks"?  
    Guess No 1:  A woman's knickers/bikini-bottoms - but they can be anything from traditional very large to almost nothing.
    Guess No 2:  6-pack, but more, well, womanly.
    Guess No 3:  Not 6-pack, but wobbly and out of control.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Guess No. 4: Wooden trunks - even worse than the paper ones.

    Sorry groucher, can’t even help with your query since it’s too cold to grow them here!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • grouchergroucher Posts: 59
    Thanks for the replies, they made me laugh!  Predictive text strikes again.  The word that should have been in there was "Many trunks". I must remember to read my post before submitting it  B)
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