Bougainvillea glabra

Common name: Buganvilla, Santa Rita, bouganvillea menor

Description:

Bougainvillea ( Bougainvillea glabra ) are climbing plants highly appreciated for their bright colors to decorate walls, bars and fences.

They are plants with simple, alternate, oval-acuminate and semi-persistent foliage, about 3 to 12 cm long and about 2 to 6 cm wide, their stems are up to 12 m long and merely climbers with thorns under the leaves, so they must be handled with care. great care.

The bougainvillea flowers are actually inflorescences, since they are made up of three bracts inside which there are three yellowish-white and tubular flowers, appearing practically all year round.

What looks like a flower to us, is actually a set of flowers that, however, go unnoticed, since what catches our attention are the bracts of the plant with very showy colors depending on the variety, which they enclose three yellowish-white and tubular flowers, which barely attract attention.

Crop:

The bougainvillea is not a demanding plant in terms of care, it is practically not necessary to water it as we would with any other plant, as it is adapted to dry climates, which is why it is widely used in xerophytic gardening and in Mediterranean gardens.

This plant is not very demanding when it comes to watering, it is only necessary to water it when the substrate dries up and, especially in summer. If you are thinking of automating the irrigation for this plant, it is best to implement a drip irrigation system to save water , since this plant does not need such frequent and intense irrigation.

It must be placed in a place exposed to the sun, otherwise it will not bloom with the same intensity.

It is also necessary to avoid fertilizing it with a nitrogenous fertilizer, because then it develops more leaves and reduces the number of flowers. The most important thing in this plant is pruning, since it tends to grow excessively, so vigorous, dry or damaged stems must be removed. In general, it supports any type of pruning and its flowering is enhanced with severe pruning, since it stimulates the formation of new stems (it is on the new stems that the flower appears).

The temperature should never drop below 0ºC.

Multiplication:

This plant can be multiplied by woody cuttings (during the winter period, although it is convenient to keep them at a temperature of 20ºC), tender or semi-woody cuttings (during spring and summer) or by air layering (in spring) .

Applications:

Its use in gardening is very widespread, as it is one of the climbing plants most used to upholster embankments, entangle fences or cover the walls of some wall.

It is also a plant suitable for growing in pots on sunny terraces due to its great adaptability.