Bougainvillea
We had neighbors over for dinner Friday night -- a dinner party of eight, and Juan brought a lovely gift, a big flowering tropical bougainvillea.
In this abnormally cold and relentlessly chilly Santa Fe winter, it was a delightful gift. There are still piles of snow sitting out there, and this tropical pink bloomer is such a bright spot.
Snow has evaporated or melted almost everywhere around here, but our north facing shady front walk is stubbornly clinging to banks of crusty white stuff.
Bougainvillea can be set out in summer here, but won't live through winter, so it's a houseplant.
And what a houseplant! Its natural tendency is to grow into a 15 foot sprawling vine. In a pot it will be much smaller, and I'll need to keep it not only branch pruned but also root pruned by repotting every two years to cut back the rootball.
I have read that it needs very dry soil in winter -- dry, dry, dry (my tendency is to overwater houseplants). In summer, when I put it outside, it will take more water.
It also wants a minimum of 5 hours of sun which is hard to get in winter inside a house. But we have big windows, and the sliding glass doors face south and most of the time New Mexico sun pours in, and I think I can keep this tropical beauty happy.
I need to get an interesting large pot to put this in. Everything in my house is orange and dark red and strong warm colors -- I never would have thought to introduce magenta, but I love the startling impact of lush, tropical, hot pink.
In this abnormally cold and relentlessly chilly Santa Fe winter, it was a delightful gift. There are still piles of snow sitting out there, and this tropical pink bloomer is such a bright spot.
Snow has evaporated or melted almost everywhere around here, but our north facing shady front walk is stubbornly clinging to banks of crusty white stuff.
Bougainvillea can be set out in summer here, but won't live through winter, so it's a houseplant.
And what a houseplant! Its natural tendency is to grow into a 15 foot sprawling vine. In a pot it will be much smaller, and I'll need to keep it not only branch pruned but also root pruned by repotting every two years to cut back the rootball.
I have read that it needs very dry soil in winter -- dry, dry, dry (my tendency is to overwater houseplants). In summer, when I put it outside, it will take more water.
It also wants a minimum of 5 hours of sun which is hard to get in winter inside a house. But we have big windows, and the sliding glass doors face south and most of the time New Mexico sun pours in, and I think I can keep this tropical beauty happy.
I need to get an interesting large pot to put this in. Everything in my house is orange and dark red and strong warm colors -- I never would have thought to introduce magenta, but I love the startling impact of lush, tropical, hot pink.
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