Hi IRun5K!

I don't know the answer to any of your questions but am interested too! I just bought two of these this past spring and planted one in each of my planter boxes. The one that is in full sun all day has been blooming non-stop since I planted it. The other one is half the size and blooms on and off. So all I can say at this point is that they are blooming outside of the Oct to June window for me right now. I kind of remember something (vaguely...) about trimming regularly to maintain dwarf size...but I may just be hallucinating about that lol.

WRF

I have seen these grow to way past 3 feet. When I worked at the garden center, we used to tell people that it was only dwarf when grown in a container.

It likely won't get 30 feet tall, but I've even seen pixie bougies grow to 9-10 feet if not pruned regularly.

Yes, it will bloom for the entire dry season if not given a lot of water. They don't like a lot of fertilizer, in fact, the poorer the soil, the better, and you don't have to water them at all once they are established.

That being said, an organic fertilizer like organo or milorganite is best for them. They seem to like organics. Just don't fertilize it too much. Once established, I only fertilized mine once a year in April, and watered maybe one good time a month and it did fine.

I sure don't understand bougies. Can't get any consistent behaviour from them. One planted in sun, never blooms --but I admit, it is in sand and not fertilized... but why will a bougie cover a 2 story building side and bloom profusely year-round when it's roots are under a brick alley and no one cares for it? (It was in the alley of the "Jannus Landing" block downtown St Pete but died when the building was tented 2 or 3 years ago). But I digress. My 2 small new ones in pots bought together and sat together in sun... 1 tipped over and missed rain a day or 2 and 60% immediately died. A med small in pot elsewhere quit blooming after purchase and finally has put out a single flower in the midst of constant rain.

Thanks. Well, my best guess at pruning for now is to pinch the top off. It seems that this variety won't grow from that spot any more. I guess the other solution is to prune the whole vine back to the ground... I guess it depends if they only bloom on new growth or not....

irma_stpete, you're right, these things are interesting and seem to be happiest in the ground with no care. Container growing might change the playing field. When I used to live in Hawaii, they would grow to cover an entire mountain side. Very useful, since it prevents erosion where the roads are cut though. And, nice eye candy to boot.

I've been interested in growing this cultivar too. However I can't seem to find it. Any bougies available locally are unnamed and any website or nursery that has it is only wholesale and only sells to the trade. Does anyone know of any online source for this specific cultivar. I am a little bummed that it doesn't really seem to be an actual dwarf bush, however.

I've had a few 'dwarf' varieties they do stay small in containers otherwise you will have to keep them trimmed to stay really dwarf.

I have some in pots (13 or so) that I put in the gh during the winter. In the spring I plant them back out. I cut them wayyyy back and sever the roots in Dec to pot them back up again or they just freeze back too much in my zone 9a.
They do just fine. I don't know why some people think they are finicky and fragile about transplanting. They are tough customers.

In the summer, they grow about 20 ft or more and bloom their heads off especially in the fall. Some grow back real quick and bloom in the gh in the winter after they get cut back. I do have one purple standard bougie tree. I keep that one more cut back than the others at all times but it still wants to be a wild thang lol.

I water and fertilize regularly most of the year. When I plant them out they are near Plumeria so get the same treatment as those.
In the winter, I hardly water and don't fert. at all so they basically go through a dry 'rest' period.
~SJN

This post was edited by sultry_jasmine_night on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 11:04

From what I've read most sites say bougainvillea is non toxic to dogs and cats. A few sites said mildly toxic to dogs saying it might make them throw up or have other GI symptoms.

If you have a puppy who just chews up everything I would put a litte chicken wire fence around it or put a potted bougainvillea where the puppy cant get it.

Most animals are going to leave it alone due to the huge thorns it can have.

We have a lot of cats around here and they hide, sleep, and play under the bougainvilleas but dont eat them.

Some people can get an allergic reaction to the thorns. They do hurt!

Bougainvillea aren't toxic to goats which I am thrilled about because we have lots of bougainvillea and got goats earlier this year.

Also, I recently read that people can eat the colored papery bougainvillea "flowers" which are really called bracts. I had no clue lol!!

Apparently, you can put them in salads etc. Some people also make a Switzel drink from the bracts!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thecarousel.com/food/healthy/bougainvillea-switzel/amp/