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Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea species and cultivars
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Brilliant clolour displays over a long season, toughness and and heat tolerance make Bougainvillea ideal for sunny warm-climate gardens. With appropriate cultivar selection and management techniques, Bougainvillea can be grown in a variety of ways including as container specimens, hedges, standards and, of course, as climbers. Thorns can be a problem, though, so take care with placement and maintenance.
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Where to buy Bougainvillea in Qld
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NATIONAL TROPICAL PLANTS
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National Tropical Plants is a Queensland-based online nursery specialising in plants for the tropics and subtropics.
Range includes natives and exotics, edibles and ornamentals, beautiful flowering shrubs and lush tropical foliage plants, old favourites and the rare and unusual.
There are palms, cycads, cordylines, succulents, bougainvilleas, hibiscus, oleanders in many colours and a selection of azaleas suitable for warm climates to choose from.
Edibles include a range of dwarf coconuts varieties and the tropical mangosteen.
To check the current availability of these plants and many more, or to place an order, visit the National Tropical Plants
WEBSITE
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If you live in any of the tropical or subtropical regions of Qld, you're likely to find a reasonable selection at local garden centres, although you may have to take pot luck with respect to the flower colours or varieties they have in stock..
Bougainvillea nurseries, breeders and distributors servicing the retail market in Qld are are invited to advertise on this page. More information about advertising here.
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More Information
A number of dwarf cultivars of Bougainvillea suitable for containers or small gardens are now on the market, which means that most Queenslanders will be able to find a spot for a Bougainvillea or twenty. Look out for these compact varieties and other Bougainvillea cultivars in your local garden centre.
While the vivid purples, oranges and hot pinks of bougainvillea are synonymous with tropical gardens, the softer pastels and whites could readily be incorporated into a more cottage-style garden in hot climates as substitutes for temperate shrubs, climbers or even perennials (kept compact).
Is there a thornless Bougainvillea?
As far as I can determine, there is no Bougainvillea which is 100% thornless. Occasionally one reads of a thornless variety, only to read elsewhere that it does produce some thorns, or reduced thorns.
B. arborea, a species introduced into the US trade in the 1990s, is possibly the closest thing to a thornless Bougainvillea. While commonly referred to as such, even it can produce thorns on juvenille growth, apparently (see notes in the Virtual Tour of the AOS Garden). This species is also interesting as it's said to have a more tree-like habit of growth than most Bougainvilleas, plus fragrant flowers. Unfortunately, I don't know of any nurseries selling this plant in Australia as yet (if you do, please get in touch!).
Meanwhile, dwarf varieties readily available on the market in Qld tend to have very small thorns. With a little common sense, they can be used in a variety of landscaping applications.
More Links
The following links are for general information and further research - some species or cultivars may be unavailable in Australia
Bougainvillea A comprehensive factsheet from University of Hawaii at Manoa (PDF)
Bougainvilleas Osceola County Extension Service, University of Florida
Bougainvillea (Paper Flower) Pictures of Bougainvillea being cultivated in a variety of ways in Thailand and Vietnam (at www.flowerpictures.net)
Rasberry Ice Part of the Higher Ground website, Texas USA. To help their Bougainvillea 'Rasberry Ice' survive the Texan winter, these gardeners dig it up every year!
General botany, unusual species
Pacific flora database of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, USA. Select Bougainvillea arborea from the "Choose A Plant" menu
Monte Negro Bougainvillea spinosa. Flora y Vegetacion de la Patagonia, Argentina
Nyctaginaceae Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Argentina. Students of horticulture who don't speak Spanish may nevertheless derive some useful information from this document (PDF)
Possible Misspellings: Boganvillea, Bouganvillea, Boganvillia, Bouganvillia. In older texts it may be spelled Bougainvillaea.
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