Desert bougies can provide great color to your garden

The early Bougainvillea varieties 'Barbara Karst' and 'San Diego Red' are the hallmarks of old Palm Springs. To early desert residents, these big burly fellows proved incredibly drought resistant and more importantly, they love our hot summers. But ubiquitous red bougies do not suit every garden or taste. For many it's the cooler colors they seek, the white and pinks and purples that are hard to find at garden centers.

That is until I visited Mollers Garden Center in Palm Desert where you'll see more bougie colors and sizes in one place than everywhere else combined. It's here that you'll find the rare flush pinks and the truly feminine shades that give small spaces and lovely private gardens the cooling effect we love. They also specialize in large specimens for instant results for an upcoming event, party or gathering.

To get the best results with new bougies planted this fall, here are some tips I've learned over the years. Above all, don't kill them with kindness, particularly in pots. Too much water causes excessive leafy growth and few flowers, while those kept very dry tend to shed foliage and bloom more due to stress. Ideally you want the perfect blend of foliage and flowers for a lush wall vine.

Beware fertilizer as well. Bougies love fast draining low fertility soils so where they're slow growing it's due to too much or too little water, or possibly too much shade. Most fertilizers contain high nitrogen which stimulates lean bougies to grow rank and fast with possible sacrifice of all flowers for a while until conditions neutralize again.

I made the mistake of planting my favorite bougies on a north facing boundary wall. In no time the plants reached the top of the wall and there they met the south sun in full force. My bougies loved it and proceeded to grow right over the wall and bloom like crazy...for the neighbors. My side of the wall was mostly stems and some leaves with sparse bloom. Take advantage of my mistake and think about that exposure that they obviously prefer before planting.

Bougainvilleas shed. The old red ones are horrible and shed every time the wind blows. Bougie flowers are actually modified leaves called bracts with little white tubular flowers among them. Bracts shed because they are leaves, and thus regenerate over and over again during the growing season. For many this is a perpetual clean up chore so they shear the bougies into hedges to reduce new bract formation and thus lose the color. One variety called 'Purple Queen' produces more bright green, lush leaves and bracts that hold on for so long you have to cut them when the color finally fades.

When I worked at Roger's Gardens and we lost a bougie on a job, the cause was always the same. The installation crew cracked or broke the root ball. Bougainvillea is one of the most root sensitive vines ever, and it's typically grown in a loose sandy mix. Such potting soil does not hold together well, particularly if the root ball comes out of the pot dry and crumbly. When you plant a larger specimen, set the pot in the planting hole and cut it away so you won't have to remove the root ball and risk damage.

If you think you've damaged the root ball during planting, consider applying some Superthrive. This is an old school horticultural secret that you can buy in a little bottle at the garden center. It's a blend of plant growth hormones that stimulate cell division to help damaged roots heal and grow again more quickly. It's not fertilizer so don't worry about burning. Feel free to use Superthrive on all your plants that need it this year, particularly if stressed by water cutbacks.

Fall is the best time to plant bougainvillea so your new plant bursts into bloom after the holidays. Whether you choose dwarf shrubs or large lianas, hot reds or cooler hues, these are indeed the most powerful color source when drought removes so many other options.