Bouganvellia

[Kim]

I have a lovelly Bouganvellia - It is doing Very well in hot sun on my south facing back deck.

I plan to bring it in for the winter. What sort of inside conditions will it need.

I was planning on a south facing window in a cool room - we heat our house with wood fire and this room is as far as possible from that source of dry heat.

I was thinking of boilling a kettle near it once or twice a week to help maintain a local bit of humidity?

Thank you

Hi,
I am trying to find out for a lady I work with what a bouganvillea is. She has been given a plant by a friend but it has no explanation of what it will look like or anything just it's name. Any help appreciated, this is the only place I can find with this plant on it's list.
thanks kim

[Eric La Fountaine]

Hi Kim,

You probably could not find info this plant because it is dificult to spell and the name was misspelled in the title of this thread.

Bougainvillea is a very showy bloomer. Here are a couple of links with photos. You can see the bright colouful bracts you and your coworker can look forward to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainvillea

http://www.plantanswers.com/bouganvilia.htm

The plant likes drier cooler conditions in the winter, so the set up in post 1 should be OK. But find a bright spot and don't be too surprised if all the leaves drop when you move it.

(Hey Kim, not sure if you forgot your password or there are two Kims here. You can send me an email if you need the password reset.)

[Daniel Mosquin]

Kim sent the following along as an email:

Hi -

Well I don't know too much about them myself except that they grow rampantly in paces like the Greek Islands - where I fell in love with them. The can grow in poor soil and although I've read that they do not like to be too dry I believe they will send out deep roots so that once established they can cope with dry summer seasons. They have beautiful flowers - in reds, purples, and hot pinks!! The grow rather like a cross between a tree and a vine - getting thick primary stems but needing support for their long thin branches. They seem fairly unruly - that adds to their beauty I think.

I am presently trying to grow one here on Vancouver Island. I have it in a large pot on my south side deck where it gets hot sun. I will move it inside for the winter as it is not frost hardy. Inside it will require a cool room with humidity. I'm not sure how to manage that at the moment.

Perhaps I'll boil a kettle for it once a day as our house is quite dry in the winter. I think your friend could see what her plant could look like if she gets a travel book about Santorini - they grow every where there!!

Sorry - that isn't much info - I'm in the dark about growing them in this climate myself.

Kim ( A Bouganvellia fan)