You CAN do it, but the queen's wreath will overwhelm the bougainvillea and smother it.

This is one queen's wreath vine, planted from a 1-gallon pot, with 3 year's growth. The lump on the left is the orange tree.

Queen's wreath at 3 years, midsummer, starting from cut back to the ground in February. Up an 8-foot wire arbor, across the 10-foot top, and draping down the sides.

Lazy, that doesn't look like what we call queen's wreath down here. Ours is Petrea Volubilis. Yours looks more like Antigonon leptopus, maybe?

Me, I would never ever plant anything near a bougainvillea that I would ever need to trim.

ETA A mature Petrea is a tough woody vine. A bougie is not going to be a tree, although you can trim it into a standard that looks like one, and I wouldn't expect it to be able to support the weight of a queen's wreath, either.

thank you to you both. this helps me tremendously. i did not realize the petrea got so big so quickly. i do not want it to take over anything in my garden and i will not be using an arbor. i have considered growing it over a bedroom window or in one of those teepee type cages where you can get vertical growth. however, if it is a tough woody vine as writers block mentions then it would soon overtake that standing teepee. any suggestions?

Lazy - yes, you have the Antigonon leptopus or coral vine in your picture.

Arodinmiami - Your picture is an actual tree with a bogie growing up into it. Queen's Wreath nor Bougainvillea are trees, and the petrea will need a very strong fence or trellis to grow on, because it gets very heavy. I've seen it tear down a lattice fence.

I've seen those before, DG. It's become a thing for very intrepid gardeners (with puncture-proof skin, evidently) to entwine the stems of several bougainvilleas to make standards with a support in the middle, although it would be extremely difficult to meld as many as they did in the photo, and a serious nightmare to keep the thing in check once it got some height on it. I'd as soon stick my hand in a tank of piranhas as try to weave together all those stems. It would also be liable to blow over easily in a tropical storm.

Me, I prefer plants that are not homicidal, but if you have serious protective gear I suppose it could be done. One like that would need a huge amount of ground space, though, and I wouldn't undertake pruning it without a cherry picker.

I agree that it's not going to support any auxiliary vines.

I can see why you would want to though. That's beautiful!

whgille: thanks for the photo, your queen wreath is blooming beautifully. when you say you saw a bougie and a popcorn cassia "together" do you mean they were entwined ? or planted near each other?

dirtygardner: writersblock is correct, the photo i posted of a huge bougie is made up of several bougainvilleas, to make a very large standard tree. it is not a regular tree where a bougie climbed up. this particular one has been growing in the florida keys right off US1 for years. i saw it and fell in love with it. have been wanting to duplicate it since in my yard. if you can get under it it will not tear you to shreds as much. i just visited several bougainvillea farms here in south florida where they grow these large standards. some had toppled over and snapped for the very reasons you both mention.. that it is top heavy and can blow over in a tropical storm. this concerns me now... i was planning to stake it of course but i wonder how strong and how long it would last.

They are beautiful, but like all bougainvilleas will require a very large amount of maintenance to keep them shaped.

writers block: yes, that is true. i currently have a landscape crew that does everything. let's see if they start charging me more with all the new stuff i will have planted.

Oh, if you've got someone else to do the prickly part, I would totally do it!

My parents had a Boug that grew a trunk, it looked like a tree! I dont think it had much to grow on so it kind of grew onto itself. They chopped it all down some years ago, I wish I would have gotten a picture of it, I hated that thing when I was young, but as it grew taller seeking sunlight in the yard that yearly was becoming shadier due to oak and pine trees it's thorns seem to finally be up too high to be a bother to me when walking by it.

Found THE most PERFECT Boug for you!!!!! OMG

http://www.yenisafak.com/en/life/rare-bougainvillea-trees-sell-for-thousands-in-turkey-2479275

arodinmiami, those trees are stunning! If you don't mint me asking, how much are they and where are they selling them? I would love one in my yard!

Thanks so much arodinmiami! I live right near SW Ranches so I'll swing by and have a look. That is pricey and I would consider driving to Homestead if it was significantly cheaper. How much down there?

There also is, or used to be, one of the nurseries on Stirling between 95 and the turnpike that had a nice selection of standards.