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Bougainvillea Frosted

fionalasmolinas

18 years ago

Anyone any idea how to finally diagnose a dead bougainvillea? Ours was apparently clobbered by the heavy frosts January, but we were told to leave it a year or more before digging up. Shoots are not crisp to break, but definitely yellowy not green inside. No leaves or other sign of life. We keep watering in case, but need help deciding when/what to do!!

Plus - any suggestions for non-leaf-dropping plants for a pot by the swimming pool, which would also be kind of architectural & block a view of a typical new bungalow in the distance?

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Comments (6)

azurskies
18 years ago
We had a similar problem here in the Alpes Maritime. Ours survived and has now been flowering well for the last two months. I cut some of the branches back, it then sprouted again and flowered. Although some of the branches did still die back, on the whole it's given a good display. Try cutting back a branch and if there is still some green inside then it is still alive.

How about a phormium (New Sealand Flax) in your pot. They make good architectural statements and can grow quite large. There are ones with red leaves and some varigated green/yellow ones that are particularly attractive.

Hope this helps
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fionalasmolinas
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Azurskies, (a) phormium sounds a good idea. I've seen them in gardens in UK & you're right there are some magnificent colours & shapes; wonder if it would cope with irregular watering, we're not there all the time... (b) I'll try cutting bits of the bougainvillea back, see if I get any green rather than the slightly sorry for itself yellow I found in the twigs/branch bits I tried to snap. How long ago was yours frosted & how long before you tried the cutting & finding green process??
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We don't live in Texas nor do we have wet soil to deal with but we do grow some of the plants on your list. Bougainvilleas are frost tender and in zone eight ours dies to the roots every winter. They also are supposed to bloom much better if they are grown on the dry side during thier bloom period. We water ours in spring but then back off on the water once it has vined up from the roots and is ready to bloom. Don't know how well it will bloom with constant moisture and hope you are prepared to chop the spiny dead vines back every winter. Ligustrum is quite large so hopefully you will be able to prune regularly because your space doesn't look very large. We don't grow azaleas as they would hate it here but my understanding is that they like moisture retentive acid soils with good drainage. I know a lot of texas has alkaline soils but maybe not your area? Also hope that with all your moisture you have drainage and the sun isn't too strong for the azalea. We don't have Katie ruellia but the more common R. brittonia which is a bloom factory but it dies to the ground in the winter. Some moisture lovers that you might check out are calla lily (Zantedeschia), Siberian Iris, fiber optics plant (Isolepis).
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Hi, I'm from Phoenix and we have lots of Bougainvillea, frost usually won't kill them. They loose there leaves and go into shock, but don't die. I'm not familiar with a cold greenhouse but if the temperature doesn't go below 35 degrees F for too long you don't have to worry. You could always bring them in on really cold night. Here, we just put a sheet on them. If we forget, the leaves turn black, but the plant survives. Keeping them moist usually encourages plant growth, but the bracts (pink flowers) come about when they are distressed (dry). So the secret is to keep them a little on the dry side if you want the flowers. I think more Bougainvillea die from over watering so I'd be careful with that. It's easy to tell the difference the leaves will start wilting but recover quickly when watered. They really need full sun (5-6 hours or more) to flower well. Nancy
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Jim - thanks for the compliment and the info. None of the plants in the raised bed is more than 3 years old ... I can't wait to see where it goes! I actually have a landscaping plan to turn 1/2 of the yard into Xeriscape but to leave that particular area of grass intact. Sharon - I don't know remember what kind it is ... I just know that two of the plants have white flowers and two have fuchsia flowers. My goal with the bougainvillea is to train it up the trellis' and then let it go wild above to form a sound and security barrior (something similar to thishref>). There is bougainvillea where I work on the north side of a 3 story building that seems to do just fine. Maybe the 3 stories protect it. I think if I can get up over the wall more fully, it will do better ... but getting it established is brutal. Training them to grow up the trellis doesn't help since there is no big bush to be protected (i.e., all the branches are exposed to the frost). In fact, I know that's part of the problem because a bougainvillea on the same wall that I barely covered but also had not trained up yet stayed green all winter and is doing fine. I think if the white comes back, I'll let it grow as a bush for this year to keep it going and wait to train it up the wall next year (I may that with the fuchsia, too). If it doesn't come back, I may give up on white bougainvillea (although I do so love it. I'll have to find somewhere else in the garden to grow it). Or maybe I'll plant two more and keep them as bushes for a few years (sigh).
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Did you get below freezing temps a couple of weeks ago? I know there were freeze warnings all across southern California including at my mom-in-law's who lives near the coast. Bougainvillea is frost tender and gets heavy damage at very cold temperatures. Some years ago we got snow at my house (I'm close to the mountains) and it killed my bougies. Large mature plants that are well established can survive and grow back but small ones don't fare so well. Another possibility is gophers. They killed another of my bougainvillieas.
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Sherill
18 years ago
I planted a new Bougainvillia just before the frost we had in Southern Spain this spring (very unusual). I really thought I had lost a lot of stuff, Bananas, Hibiscus, and the new Bougainvillia, but no, everything has survived and is now coming back pretty well. Don't give up, just cut right back, and wait and see. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Mediterranean Garden diary
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azurskies
18 years ago
Fiona,
Mine was hit by the frost and snow in February. It lasted for well over a week. I looked at it at the end of March.
Hope this helps.
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veedear
18 years ago
i live in the costa blance and we had ice last winter which only killed the white bougainvillea. one way to check if any plant is dead is to scrape a little of the bark near to the ground(six inces or so) if it is green under the bark it should still be alive and should come back to life. if think there is going to frost this winter put fleece over tender plants. iw ill do that with my white boug..
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sal
18 years ago
i had a well established bougainvillea which died back to ground level last january, it started to grow again about eight weeks later, i have been told that the last time the weather was as cold as last winter was hundred years ago so hopefully i wont be around for the next die back.
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