Instead of offering colorful flowers, bougainvillea . packs its punch through vibrant, modified leaves known as bracts. . It rewards restraint with vivid bracts exploding with bougainvillea color.
Get Light Right
Colorful bougainvillea depend on plentiful sun. Full sun and high light intensity brings out their finest color. Put bougainvillea in low light or shade and they may drop their bracts. Short day length prompts their heaviest, most colorful flowering.
Balance Soil and Nutrients
Bougainvillea does well on a slow, steady diet. Nitrogen and phosphorus fuel growth, but too much fertilizer limits blooms. High nitrogen, including nearby turf fertilizers, sends bougainvillea into growth spurts -- minus its blooms.
Prune Hard and Carefully
Left to its own devices, bougainvillea scrambles 40 feet or more, drenching structures in magnificent color. The flowers and their flashy bracts are borne on the new year's wood. After bougainvillea finishes blooming, prune the lateral branches back to two to three buds from the main stem. This encourages vigorous growth and future color.
Water Less and Less
In bougainvillea's native habitat, heavy flowering and colorful bracts come on the heels of dry seasons. The plant colors best when soil is kept dry. Water thoroughly when you water, but then allow the soil to dry to at least a finger's depth before you water again. Bougainvillea growers often withhold water to the point of wilting to trigger bract color and heavy flowering.
