Bougainvillea’s are a huge part of California landscape. I bought these two plants several years ago, but they never grew or flowered. It was very disappointing.

Today I was reading about the planting of bougainvillea, and suddenly I knew why these plants have never done well.

I learned that they have very sensitive root systems and don’t like to have their roots disturbed. It is best to leave the plant in the container it is growing in. Trim the pot and make several openings in the sides, then place the plant and container into the ground. I wish I had known all of this before I planted my two plants.

They like hot weather, and do best when planted in the summer. They like full sun.

Spring is the best time to prune bougainvillea, so they will flower in the summer.

They do not like to be overwatered. You can stop watering well established bougainvillea in July.

I eventually replaced the plants with a climbing rose, which has done much better.

I repotted the bougainvillea plants in containers,  My poor plants have been terribly mishandled. Starting right now, I am going to baby them and see if I can encourage them to grow.

I hate to admit it, but I did everything wrong. Hopefully in the future, I will be posting photos of two healthy bougainvillea.