Sometimes known as the paper flower, due to their thin and paper like bracts, Bougainivillea are originally native to South America, but now thrive in South East Asia and are a popular ornamental plant throughout homes and gardens in Thailand.
The Bougainivillea flower is generally white and small, with each cluster of three flowers surrounded by 3 to 6 colourful leaves, or bracts, which produce the Bougainivillea's vibrant colour, usually either pink, purple, red, magenta, orange, white or yellow.
They are known for their toughness, and require very little water to bloom. They grow rapidly in bright full sun, and flower all year in warm climates, especially when pruned properly.
They often remain pest free as well, and are a favourite as Thai house plants due to their attractive and robust characteristics.
I didn’t realise that the flower was the small white part in the middle. Curious (and nice to know).
I purchased my first bougainivillea in Texas, and they was exotic to me back then.
When I moved to Brunei, they were everywhere, but controlled. The locals would put bougainivillea’s in pots, sometimes 10 to a row and six deep. Nothing else in their front yards, just pots of bougainivillea. The Chinese would cement their front yards and put pots and pots of bougainivillea in.
When I drove across the border to Sarawak for the first time I couldn’t believe how huge bougainivillea can get when not stunted in pots. They are absolutely stunning.
Yes they are tough, attractive little blighters, and they can grow up to a whopping 12 metres! Very interesting to hear about Chinese and Brunei planting habits!