Hi, you all! I have never posted here, but I collect bougainvilleas. They grow like weeds here, in Guam, and I love the different colors, bicolor, and just plain beautiful hues. I have to replace many of them that the last typhoon killed, I mean just took away, roots and all, well, with winds of over 200 MPH is a wonder that I kept the rest. I have some that, sporadically, I see small shoots coming around the main plant, but, since I never knew that they could bear seeds, I never paid much attention to them, and since the gardener does the weeding, there they went... I could smack myself in the 'back' GRRRR. Thank you all for enlighten me, I do a lot of lurking and this thread just caught my attention with the seeds, and I said: yeah, right.... however, tomorrow, I'll check mine to see if I have some. With so many in bloom right now, I could pick up bags of dried bracts. Here's a pic of one of mine. I had 5 on that side of the house, now I have only 2 left, but this one blooms year round.(The blue in the background is the ocean) Ana :) Here is a link that might be useful: Lavander Bougainvillea

Propagate your own root stock the easy way with 'Pot Over Pan' To obtaining sturdy bougainvillea roots, take a young potted plant and stand it over an empty upturned pot, larger and shallow. For ease of description, growers call this the 'Pot Over Pan' method. This pot upturned pot should preferably be shallow - say not more than 3 or 4in. in depth, with a base wider than the upper pot - that is why it can also be called a 'pan'. It must have large holes (carefully made with a chisel or drill) at its base. The upturned pot should then be placed directly over the earth. Or filled with earth before upturning. Here is how it is done. Pot as you normally would for a young plant, but do not close up the holes at the bottom with broken bricks. Leave them relatively open, but plugged with a thin layer of dried grass or coconut husk. Then position the potted plant over the upturned pot in . such a way that the holes of both pots are aligned. Where you place this setup is important. You should choose a patch of ground in your garden which is quiet yet sunny and where there is little disturbance from gardeners or grasscutters. Loosen the soil in the ground, and better still, add soil mix and work it into the ground. Soon roots will appear, unrestrained, from the bottom of the upper pot and reach through the large holes of the upturned pot, heading straight down into the earth - now rich with soil mix - in search of water and nutrients. Gradually the roots will have firmly anchored into the earth, but harvest only when they have developed to a diameter of 3/16-1/4 in. or more. Do this by gently cutting off the roots from under the base of the pot holding the young plant, making sure you do not damage the roots. (When this is done, you will notice that the leaves of the plant will start to droop due to the shock. All you need do to revive it is to water the plant and transfer it to a shady spot, and soon it will resume its normal healthy self.) Next, lift up the upturned pot carefully. You will see that the roots, quite likely mixed with soil, curled around inside, and with their bottom ends firmly anchored to the earth. Cut them off at the base unless you can gently but firmly pull them out from the earth. Finally remove the soil from the harvested roots, wash them thoroughly, and plant them as root stock. The usual method of root grafting can be practised. If upturned pot was filled with dirt, then cut dirt into 3 parts and trans plant each root set in its pot. Align holes between the two pots to allow roots to reach the Cover holes of pot with thin layer of dried grass or coconut husk. After some months, roots reach downwards through large holes inuptumed pot. Loosen existing soil in the ground, and better still, add soil mix. Cut off roots from plants. Remove roots by digging gently so as not to damage them. Transplant.

You could be right simon H. I took a leaf from high up the plant and put it under the 100x microscope. I could see little stalks with a globule of transparent liquid on the ends. But again, nothing moved about. It is sticky, but I thought I would see them if they were aphids, which are usually easy to see with the naked eye. You can't hoover them up from the table the plant stands on, probably due to the stickiness. I think I am going to give it a good trim and spray with insecticide to see what happends

The ones you are fusing over are probably being overwater, overfertilizef in rich soil. Some plants thrive with some benign neglect (lavendar, bourgainvilleas, for example). Some plants from arid regions or seasonal drought in particular, do better with low fertility soils and intermittent drought.