La Jolla Bougainvillea

Evergreen Vine with Tropical Flowers Add color and flair to your landscape with this tropical, flowering, evergreen vine. The La Jolla Bougainvillea’s showy, fuchsia bracts, climbing habit, and versatility make it both dazzling and functional. With dark green, glossy foliage that's oval to heart-shaped, the La Jolla Bougainvillea offers unique dimension that'll stand out in your landscape all year long. And producing tiny white flowers that are surrounded by lush, fuschia-red bracts from spring to fall, you'll enjoy long-lasting color and interest. Although the looks of this vine are delightful, the La Jolla Bougainvillea has even more to offer. It's a fantastic addition to rock gardens, wall borders, or containers, and it's ideal as a groundcover or climbing vine to cover empty spaces. Plus, it can help prevent soil erosion on slopes to maintain the integrity of your landscape. Well-suited to hot, tropical regions, the La Jolla Bougainvillea requires minimal watering and general care with excellent heat and drought tolerance. And it's deer resistant, making it ideal for those not wanting to attract damaging pests. But fear not--it'll still attract other wildlife like butterflies, bees and birds, so you can achieve a pollinator-friendly garden! Bring the tropics of South Africa to your landscape with the La Jolla Bougainvillea and enjoy continuous blooms during the warmer months and glossy green foliage all year long. Grow your own La Jolla Bougainvillea today! Planting & Care 1. Planting: Bougainvilleas do best in a full sun location. Try and find somewhere that will offer at least 6 hours of direct sun every day. Ensure your drainage is good--plants don't like to be in areas where water may collect for prolonged periods. Bougainvilleas like to climb since they're vines, so make sure they have something like a fence or trellis to grow properly. If growing as a hedge, space them 18-20 inches apart. 2. Watering: Water your Bougainvillea as needed. Maintain a consistently moist soil but NOT overly saturated. Too much water can weaken the vine and cause excess leaf growth in place of the decorative color you’d expect. For a potted Bougainvillea, use your index finger to determine if more water is needed. Stick it into the soil down to a depth of 2 inches and feel around. If there is still moisture present, leave it be a bit longer. If it has dried out, water until you see it escaping the drainage holes and stop. 3. Pruning: Your Bougainvillea will respond to pruning greatly when done properly. Pruning is typically done in the late fall or early winter season. Some light trimming will keep the vine trained to a certain visual habit. Trimming removes smaller materials and gives the form a certain silhouette as well as maintain the shape. Hedge planted bougainvilleas will require some extensive pruning unless they have been properly trained along a trellis or other vertical support systems. You can remove dead wood/branches as they appear. Pruning the tips of the wood just after a bud node encourages the formation of new branches to form at the pruning junction. Potted vines should have their tips pinched off monthly during their active growing season to encourage more branching of the vine. Pruning should be done after winter with sterilized clippers. Rubbing alcohol works perfectly for sterilization. 4. Fertilizing: During the blooming season, your Bougainvillea will respond well to monthly applications of fertilizer. The best results have been from 6-8-10 formulas which still allow enough Nitrogen for healthy growth but also a boost of Phosphorous to encourage good blooming. Discontinue fertilizing as summer comes to an end. Potted Bougainvilleas do better with a balanced 20-20-20 water soluble formula applied every two weeks at half the strength recommended on the packaging.