John&Jacq~s Garden

Bougainvillea Species – grow and marvel its beauty!

Bougainvillea species (Paper Flower)

I’ve always been enchanted by bougainvilleas from young! They flourish practically everywhere around our tropical country, whether in the urban, rural or coastal areas.

They’re truly a sight to behold, especially when their colourful bracts far outnumber their foliage and these are often seen planted along our coastal roads where the sun can be blazing and conducive for blooming!

Bougainvilleas are so easy to grow, relatively pest-free and needing least care yet reward generously with almost continuous blooming year round. That is why we have been growing them for nearly 4 decades in our garden. :) In those earlier years, we had many plants with bracts (either single or clustered) of varying shades such as red, orange, purple, white, mauve, yellow and pink, even bi-color ones too! However, eventually our orchids outnumber them and now currently we have only three varieties, namely ‘Mrs Eva Mauve Variegata’, ‘Aiskrim’ and an unidentified variety that’s quite similar to ‘Orange Ice’.

Plant Profile, Culture and Propagation :

• Botanical Name: Bougainvillea
• Common Name: Bougainvillea, Paper Flower
• Family name: Nyctaginaceae
• Plant type: Tropical/Sub-tropical flowering perennial vine that is native to Brazil in South America. It can be trained as a shrub or small tree, grown on ground or potted in containers or hanging baskets. A vigorous-growing evergreen woody plant with or without spines, depending on the species and cultivars.
• Brief plant care: Requires full sun for optimum growth and flowering though it can tolerate semi-shade. Plant in well-drained potting medium of loam and coarse sand. Moist and moderately fertile soil. Needs regular water moderately and high humidity.
• Propagation: From seed or stem cuttings, the latter being the most favoured method. It can be easily rooted from 4- to 6-inch softwood, hardwood or leaf-bud cuttings.

Bougainvillea species
There are only 3 species that are recognized, namely:

• Bougainvillea glabra – rambling shrub with thinner branches and oval-shaped leaves. Thorns are short, thin and tips, curved. Bracts are triangle-shaped and pointed.
• Bougainvillea peruviana – a climber with a branching habit. Thin thorns that curve as they age. Thin leaves are ovate to broadly in shape. Bracts are small, roundish and crinkly.
• Bougainvillea spectabilis – large climber with curved thorns and hair on stems and leaves. Leathery leaves are large, ovate to rounded and hairy on the underside. Fairly large bracts that are crinkled and egg-shaped. A very dense plant with branches that are close and short.

Related external links :

• TopTropicals for some plant info and images
• Bougainvilleas.com to enjoy more photos of named varieties and cultivars
• National Parks Flora & Fauna, Singapore – then search for ‘bougainvillea’ to veiw images and read more of the varieties
• Bougainvillea Growers International (BGI) – be enriched by its article titled ‘Bougainvillea 101’
• Bougainvillea Info Page, a comprehensive and valuable resource by Gordon Braswell, a retired nursery owner who specializes in Bougainvilleas. He’s very thorough and practically covers everything you need to know about bougainvillea such as its cultivation and maintenance and even describes the various species, hybrids and cultivars! Excellent work!

Updated April 24, 2007 – Yippee! A white bougainvillea was added to our bougainvillea family :)

Sharing images of bougainvillea cultivars grown in our garden and elsewhere. Enjoy!

Bougainvillea ‘Mrs Eva Mauve Variegata’ with mauve bracts and variegated leaves

Bougainvillea ‘Millionaire’ or B. glabra ‘Snow White’ with white bracts

Bougainvillea ‘Aiskrim’ (synonym B. ‘Surprise’, B. ‘Miss Universe’), with pink and white bi-colored bracts

Somewhat similar to Bougainvillea ‘Orange Ice’, with orange bracts, changing to pink with age, leaves variegated and curly

Bougainvillea ‘Royal Purple’ with deep purple bracts (vigorous growth habit)

Bougainvillea ‘Royal Purple’ with deep purple bracts (vigorous growth habit)

Bougainvillea ‘Golden Glow’ with orange-yellow or amber bracts (vigorous growth habit)

Bougainvillea ‘Tropical Bouquet’ that starts with orange bracts and fading fast to light pink (vigorous growth habit)

Bougainvillea ‘Smartie Pants’ or ‘Smarty Pants’ with vibrant pink bracts

Bougainvillea ‘Orange Ice’ with orange bracts and variegated cream + green leaves

Bougainvillea ‘White Stripe’ with white bracts and variegated leaves (white to cream + green)

Bougainvillea ‘Miss Alice’ with snowy white bracts and green leaves. Also known as Bougainvillea ‘Singapore White’, Bougainvillea ‘Moonlight’ and Bougainvillea ‘Manua Kee White’

Unidentified Bougainvillea cultivar with white and deep pink bracts on the same plant and variegated yellow + green leaves. Much thanks to Dr. B.K.Banerji for identifying this cultivar as Bougainvillea ‘Thimma’.

Bougainvillea ‘Bengal Orange with deep orange bracts and variegated white + green leaves

Last edited: November 12, 2016

Tags: flowering plants, orange, outdoor plants, perennials, pink, purple, shrubs, trees, vines, white