Container Gardening: Growing Bougainvillea in Pots
Do you love the beauty of bougainvillea? Many of us will agree that bougainvillea is beautiful, but many homeowners hesitate to grow them for a variety of reasons. The most common that I hear is that they get too big and as a result, too messy.
Embracing Bougainvillea: Maximizing Beauty while Minimizing Hassle in Containers
While both statements are certainly true, wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy the captivating and vibrant beauty of bougainvillea in a more controlled manner? One can find great satisfaction in discovering how to strategically grow bougainvillea, harnessing its enchanting colors and delicate blooms while mitigating the challenges associated with its exuberant growth and occasional unruliness.
Thriving in Harsh Desert Summers: Consider Growing Bougainvillea
Let’s face it; summers in the desert can be brutal and bougainvillea are one of the lush green, flowering shrubs that thrive in intense heat and sun. So, why not consider adding one in a high-profile area where you can enjoy their beauty throughout the warm season?
The Advantage of Potted Bougainvillea: Small Size, Less Mess
Growing bougainvillea in pots limits their overall size, and with smaller shrubs, there is less mess. It also makes it easier to protect them from frost damage in winter by moving the container to a sheltered location, such as underneath a patio or covering them with a sheet.
Mastering Bougainvillea Growth: Container Planting Insights
Bougainvillea make excellent container plants. In fact, many gardeners who live in cold climates, only grow them in pots and move them indoors in winter. I met a gardener in Austin, Texas who treats bougainvillea like an annual plant, planting a new one every year to replace the old one lost to winter cold. Thankfully, we don’t need to do add a new one every year.
Simple Steps to Cultivating Bougainvillea in Pots
Growing bougainvillea in pots is easy to do. Select a location in full sun where it will promote the most bloom. Bougainvillea are one of the few flowering plants that can handle west-facing exposures.
Nurturing and Feeding Your Potted Bougainvillea for Optimal Growth
Provide support for them to grow upward if desired. You can also grow bougainvillea as more of a compact shrub form if you wish.
Water deeply and allow the top 2 inches to dry out before watering again. Bougainvillea does best when the soil is allowed to dry out between watering.
Apply a slow-release fertilizer in spring, after the danger of frost is passed. You’ll want to reapply fertilizer every three months until September.
Winter Care and Final Thoughts: Flourish with Potted Bougainvillea
Growing bougainvillea in pots keeps them small enough to make it feasible to cover them when freezing temperatures occur. So, if you like container gardening, consider growing bougainvillea in a pot for great success.
Creative Container Gardening Tips
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
I've had such bad experiences with bougainvillea, I don't know if I'd put them in a pot. The thorns on them can be ferocious, plus the debris. I've had such a negative attitude toward them for a long time. I may have to re-think the pot idea. My Mom recently moved to the area, and she thinks the bougainvillea are beautiful. Visually they are pretty, so I guess I need to see them through new eyes.
I love bougainvillas and I have 3 of them along our front fence. Yes, you have to trim them, but they aren't any worse than our acacias or mesquites! I'm actually thinking about planting two more along our front fence.
Cheryl Ann
Do you actually have to bring them in during the winter (in cold regions)? I've also read that you can leave them outside to die back and they will grow back in spring. Is this only true of ones planted in the ground or will it work for potted bougainvillea as well? Also, how tall of a support trellis does a potted bougainvillea need? 🙂
In fact over here in the tropics, it is still better to plant them in pots where there would be more flowers than leaves or hardly any leaves at all.
Hi Kendra,
Great questions!
Bougainvillea can die in cold zones – even the roots. As for the trellis – it depends on how high you want your bougainvillea to grow. I would aim for a 3 foot trellis personally.
I hope this helps!
Noelle
Hi Kendra,
Great questions!
Bougainvillea can die in cold zones – even the roots. As for the trellis – it depends on how high you want your bougainvillea to grow. I would aim for a 3 foot trellis personally.
I hope this helps!
Noelle
Thanks! How cold do you think it would have to get to cause the roots in a large pot to die? I live in the high desert of CA and it can get down to 15 at night in the winter, but that's usually only a couple nights a year. It'll be in the 20s at night for a week or two a year. I might have to just bring them into the garage for a couple weeks when we get that low. I just bought a couple plumerias that are going to need to come in, too, so I guess it won't be much extra work 😉
Hi Kendra,
I would bring it inside whenever temps dip into the 20's just to be safe 🙂
Noelle
Thanks so much for sharing. I've thought about doing this in some pots I have out front in our new house, but wasn't sure how they'd do. I like that they are more manageable in pots.
I hate Bougainvillea! My neighbor across the street has 7 plant along his perimeter wall and my front yard and doorstep are always filled with leaves from them. I wish they would die!
Love love love the quintessential classic look of bougainvillea against colorful desert or tropical houses!! I actually love big & messy but I notice when we travel to Cartagena or other tropical destinations that they are most popular in pots. I’m looking forward to planting some up against my house in large colorful pots!
Hi Lacey,
I love them in blue pots best! It was so nice meeting you last week. 🙂
Hi Denise,
I feel your pain. That is a LOT of bougainvillea and I can only imagine how messy they make your landscape. Growing them in pots is a great option for those who love bougainvillea but want to minimize (not eliminate) the mess.
Can you string lights on a potted bougainvillea tree?
Hi Felice,
I wouldn’t recommend it as they grow so fast and are thorny, making it difficult to remove the lights and the fast growth will cover up the lights quickly as well.
I live in Ontario, Canada and grow mine in pots and bring them in just before frost or when temperatures get too cool. One time they bloomed inside in the winter and then went dormant and dropped their leaves which grew back in spring. Right now (mid-January) the 2 I have still have all their leaves and are growing like crazy. I had to trim off the long parts. And please note: when you prune, do not throw away the pieces. Put the cuttings in water and they should root, giving you more plants!
They are so beautiful and easy to grow. I recommend them to everyone.
Hi J.R.,
Thank you SO much for sharing your experience with growing bougainvillea in a cold climate. It certainly gives hope for those who wish to enjoy this tropical beauty!
I just bought a bougainvillea from Home Depot. I want to transfer it to a pot and place it in my yard. Any tips on planting it – how deep into soil? Do I need rocks at the bottom? Also, what are the guidelines to follow when trimming bougainvillea? I have a brown thumb and have almost zero gardening experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Jessica,
Just plant it at the same level as the bougainvillea is in the nursery pot. You don’t need to add any rocks at the bottom – regular planting mix is sufficient.
Prune bougainvillea as needed to your desired shape in spring and summer. In spring, once the danger of frost has passed, prune back to approximately 1 foot tall and wide. It will grow back quickly.
Fertilize with Osmocote slow-release fertilizer in March, June, and September.
I hope this helps!