Bougainvillea was discovered and described just over 250 years ago. The French botanist Philibert Commerson did this, but they named the plant discovered in the forests of southern Brazil in honor of Count Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1), because it was he who was the leader of the first French circumnavigation of the world, which gave the world many discoveries, including representatives of the flora. And although the name of Bougainville, a traveler, navigator, member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, bears the name of an island, several straits, a cape, a reef, a deep ocean basin and a waterfall, the count himself pinned his hope for fame only on this amazing flower. Well, an aristocrat cannot be denied insight!
In their native Brazil, plants can reach 15 m and live up to 200 years. There they do not have a dormant period and continuously grow and bloom, because the temperature does not drop to a dangerous level below 5 ° C.
In the tropics and subtropics around the world, bougainvillea also feels very comfortable. It was especially loved in Italy, France, and other warm European countries. There, designers create masterpieces of landscape art from plastic, unpretentious climbing bushes and trees with numerous thorns.
The paradox of bougainvillea is that its flowers themselves are inconspicuous! Most often these are small white, yellow or cream stars; they quickly wither and fall off. The bracts (bractea), which differ in color, quantity, and shape - in the form of a heart, oval, arrow, triangle, are valuable. Pearly milky, pink, violet, lilac, purple, yellow-lemon, greenish - they are translucent, like slightly crumpled parchment, which is why they are often called paper. They say that if you create a picture from them, it will not contain only blue and dark blue colors. This is exactly what breeders dream of breeding! So far it hasn’t worked out... Well, bracts with existing shades are successfully used for dyeing linen fabrics.
In indoor conditions, bracts can decorate the plant from six to seven months, from May to November, and sometimes even in winter, if you create comfort for the bougainvillea similar to natural! But most often from November to March-April the plants are dormant.
Bougainvillea species
Despite the fact that the bougainvillea genus includes 18 species, four are used for breeding.
Bougainvillea glabra. It grows no higher than 5 m; its leaves are sometimes not visible behind the bracts. That's why she's naked! Easily amenable to crown formation.
Wonderful bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis). Tall. The underside of its leaves is velvety, and the bracts are distinguished by a wide palette of colors. In the south it is indispensable for vertical gardening of facades.
Peruvian bougainvillea (Bougainvillea peruviana). It is good not so much in itself as it is important for breeding work. The species bushes little, so it needs to be pruned often. But it blooms for a long time and takes root well.
Bougainvillea × buttiana. A hybrid species that appeared after crossing Bougainvillea glabra and Peruvian. He took all the best from his parents: beauty and long flowering.
Bougainvillea is naked. Photo: YouTube
Bougainvillea is wonderful. Photo: YouTube
Bougainvillea peruviana. Photo: YouTube
Bougainvillea Buttiana. Photo: YouTube
Diseases and pests
Bougainvillea at home is rarely attacked by parasitic insects, and it is also resistant to fungal infections and other diseases, but if not cared for properly, anything can happen.
Usually the flower is attacked by:
- spider mite, which settles on the inside of leaves and sucks out their juices. It is easy to detect, although it is small in size, it prefers to weave its place of residence with the finest white cobweb;
- aphid. It multiplies incredibly quickly and concentrates in the area of unopened buds, feeding on sweet juice.
Getting rid of these parasites is very simple. Make a strong solution of brown laundry soap and generously spray the plants from head to toe. Repeat the procedure several times over two weeks. If the folk remedy does not help, then you can use any insecticide purchased at a specialty store.
If you notice that the leaves have begun to turn pale and lose their color, most likely the flower has become ill with chlorosis - a lack of iron in the soil. It is necessary to spray the leaves with iron chelate, and feed the plant itself with fertilizers.
Bougainvillea varieties
Precisely because species were constantly crossed with each other to obtain varieties, it makes sense to classify the latter only according to the main decorative characteristics.
Bougainvillea Diamond. Photo: YouTube
Changing color. Over time, the bracts transform and change color. Among these varieties are:
- Chilean large (Big Chilly) - bracts are large, triangular, narrowed, elongated, first orange-red, then purple, white flowers;
- Brilliant - medium-sized bracts, first bright red, then bright purple;
- Daybreak Pixie is a dwarf with yellow bracts that then turn beige. Flowers peek out from them thanks to long thin “legs”; the leaves are small;
- California Gold - has large, round, sharp-tipped, golden bracts. By the end of flowering, they transform into pale yellow, peach and even almost white;
- Sakura is a compact variety with soft pink bracts that turn pure white with pink veins at the end of the season.
Bougainvillea Rose tree.
Photo: YouTube Terry. Instead of the usual three “paper” petals, they have 6–7 pieces. They can also change shades.
- Rose tree (Bois De Roses) – as the flowers bloom, the color of the bracts changes from orange to pink and purple;
- Klong fire is a densely double variety; in bright sun the bracts glow crimson with pronounced orange flares;
- Thai Gold - bracts change from gold to pink and lilac;
- Aussie Gold is a variety with yellow bracts.
Bougainvillea Chitra.
Photo: YouTube Bicolor. These varieties have bracts of different colors on different branches of the same plant. Or the bracts themselves are painted in two colors (bicolor).
- Chitra, or Hitra ( Chitra ) - large-sized with huge, marbled, white-pink or yellowish-purple bracts;
- Beggar Sikkander ( Beggum Sikkander ) – the bracts are very large, white with a pink border;
- Strawberry Lace - a shrub up to 3 m tall, has both white and bright pink bracts on different branches, many petals are doubly colored ;
- Snow Cap Multi - on one plant the bracts are crimson, white and variegated, at the beginning of flowering the red color is combined with yellow, at the end it acquires crimson-white shades .
Bougainvillea Mary Palmer.
Photo: YouTube Variegated. Another name is variegated. Due to the uneven distribution of chlorophyll and other pigments, each leaf turns out to be variegated - white-green, for example.
- Mary Palmer - bicolor in rich pink and snowy white tones;
- San Diego Red Variegato - striking with golden - green leaves and red perianths with bright white flowers in them;
- Delta Dawn - orange and brown bracts;
- Sunset Pixie Variegated - green leaves and pink bracts.
Description of the variety
Externally, the perennial is a large vine with long stems. They grow very quickly and climb well, but become woody with age. The branches are covered with oval leaves with a sharp end, which taper closer to the petiole. The length of the leaf plate does not exceed 15 cm, and it is painted in a rich green color and slightly shines.
A distinctive feature of smooth bougainvillea (the plant also has this name) is the absence of thorns on the shoots, which thickly cover the branches of other varieties.
During the flowering period, small yellow inflorescences bloom on the branches on a long tube-like stem. They can be either single or collected in small groups of 2-3 pieces. Around the inflorescences there are large, oval bracts with a pointed tip, 3 cm in diameter.
The parent variety of bougainvillea glabra has purple bracts. Hybrids bred on its basis can have different colors (white, red, pink, yellow and other shades).
Caring for bougainvillea at home
Since bougainvillea is a southern, heat-loving plant, when growing it at home, its preferences must be taken into account.
Priming
Nutritiousness and lightness of the soil are what bougainvillea needs. You can buy universal slightly acidic (pH 5.5 - 6.0) soil for flowering indoor plants, or you can mix it yourself from leaf and turf soil, humus and coarse river sand (2:2:1:1). A little vermiculite, ash and pieces of charcoal won't hurt either. The ingredients should be poured with boiling water to disinfect. Then the substrate is dried.
When planting at the bottom of the pot, you need to put a drainage made of broken brick or expanded clay, pebbles, large pebbles, which is placed on the bottom of the container to a height of 3 - 4 cm.
Lighting
Southern bougainvillea loves the sun and is not afraid of direct rays - 5 hours a day is the required minimum lighting for it. Then the bracts will not lose their brightness, and the leaves will not lose their gloss.
Temperature
The plant is also partial to fresh air. The room must be ventilated, but so that even the slightest breeze does not touch the branches. And although bougainvilleas cannot tolerate not only transplants, but also movements, especially when they bloom, in warm summers it is still a good idea to take them out to an area or terrace where there is no wind and no rain. Well, in winter they are even shown an insulated loggia, as long as the temperature on it does not drop below 10 °C.
In spring and summer it is necessary to ensure 22 - 25 °C, in winter 12 - 16 °C. The off-season coolness will allow the bugs to lay more flower buds. If it is difficult to lower the temperature, you will have to illuminate them with a phytolamp for 12 hours a day so as not to let them rest. Your pets will bloom constantly, but with medium intensity. And it's still beautiful!
Photo: pixabay.com
Humidity
The main thing is not to overdo it with water, because bougainvillea in its homeland lives on rocky mountain slopes, where there is no stagnation of moisture. The soil in spring and summer should be moderately moist, so water the plants a couple of times a week when the soil on top dries out. As soon as water flows into the pan, its excess is removed so that the roots do not rot.
In September-October, water less - once every 1.5 weeks, and from November to February - once every 15 - 20 days, still making sure that the soil does not dry out.
The air is also sprayed, being careful not to get it on the bracts. The law is this: the cooler it is, the less frequent the water procedures. If the leaves fall in winter, they stop growing altogether. However, you can place a container of water nearby.
Fertilizers
When transplanting bougainvillea into a new pot, if you use purchased soil, you do not need to add fertilizers to it - they are already there.
Feeding
From March to mid-October, bougainvillea is fed once every 2 weeks. You can use any liquid fertilizer for flowering plants with a high content of phosphorus, potassium and iron. But there should be a minimum of nitrogen, as it weakens flowering and increases the mass of leaves.
If you are afraid of burning the roots, there is a convenient option - Pokon fertilizer in sticks. Stick it in and forget it for 3 months. This option is suitable for all types of indoor flowers.
Pokon also comes in liquid form - in addition to phosphorus and potassium, it contains trace elements: boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, zinc. All are soluble in water and well absorbed by plants. The lid of the container is also a 10 ml measuring cup; the consumption of the nutrient liquid is visible through the side walls. Recommendations for use are simple: in summer, a cap for 1 liter of water once a week, in winter, if the bugs are constantly blooming, half a cap for 1 liter of water once every 2 weeks.
Other fertilizers for flowering potted plants are also suitable.
Trimming
A neat appearance is essential for bougainvillea. Even a young plant is not allowed to grow at random. Pruning is needed not only to form the crown, but also to stimulate flowering. A fashionable and corrective haircut for bougainvilleas is done three times a year:
- in spring - in March-April, weak, damaged, dried branches are removed from plants;
- in summer - in July-August, bougainvillea gets rid of inflorescences that have lost their beauty;
- in the fall - at the end of September - October, after vigorous flowering, young shoots of this year are shortened by 1/3 of the length, but so that 6 - 8 buds remain on each, excess unwanted one- and two-year-old branches are cut down to the trunk, but older ones do not touch, as this greatly injures the bougainvillea.
In addition, bougainvillea can be shaped into interesting shapes and grown in different ways.
On a support. Bougainvillea stems are heavy and need to be supported. The necessary frames of different types and colors are sold or made by hand. They can be in the form of a ladder, an arc, a bracket, a circle on legs, a rigid spiral, or a leaf figure with “veins.” Any material - thick metal wire, rods made of plastic, bamboo, wood. The main thing is that the design is durable and decorative. It’s a good idea to wrap it with eco-friendly coconut fiber, and to secure the stems, purchase special multi-colored, convenient fasteners and clips.
If desired, flexible and plastic bougainvilleas are given a “talking” shape before the dormant period - they are bent along a support in the form of a heart, a question mark, a ring, or they are made into a multi-stemmed bush, curly frames and large-mesh lattices are entwined with vines.
In intertwining. In this case, 2 different varieties with contrasting - white and red, yellow and purple - bracts are planted in one pot. They are woven into one braid so that they support each other.
Bougainvillea bonsai. A small bougainvillea tree with one stem and a flowering crown is also one of the shaping methods. All actions are carried out before the dormant period, so that the plant has time to acquire shoots with flower buds. Here are 5 steps to success:
- keep 2 - 3 branches, and cut off the rest;
- wait (for a long time!) until the main stem becomes woody;
- radically cut off the central shoots into stumps;
- when the bougainvillea gives new lashes, the unnecessary ones are removed, the long ones are shortened and fixed in the desired direction using wire, which is removed after the branches become lignified;
- if the branches are bare below, young green cuttings from the crown are grafted onto them - you can take them from another variety with a contrasting shade of bracts, cut, carefully, trying not to damage the buds, remove all the leaves from it, then make a hole on the bald branch with a drill with a thin drill , a cutting is inserted and the area around is treated with medical glue, the plant is not touched for several months, only carefully watered.
If you don’t have a drill, you can make a shallow side cut on the rootstock with a sharp knife and insert a ground scion cutting into it. The operation site is fixed with medical glue and grafting plaster.
Bonsai are replanted every 3 - 5 years, when the roots begin to peek out of the drainage hole. The new soil should be dry and consist of half organic matter, half pumice, granular granite and sand.
Features of growing bougainvillea
The natural habitat of bougainvillea is the equator, where the length of night and day are equal. In the conditions of central Russia, the best time to organize flowering plants is March and September (spring and autumn equinox).
The signal for the start of flowering in some varieties will be abundant watering after a period of dry dormancy; they need to imitate the conditions of natural life cycles, as in their homeland, where the rainy season begins after a dry season.
"double flowers" bougainvillea
Bougainvilleas vitally need fresh air; if kept on a windowsill all year round, they bloom reluctantly; in the summer they must be taken out into the garden, onto the balcony - anywhere, just not left indoors, otherwise they will actively grow, but there will be no flowering or it will be very scanty, with single flowers.
For normal development and abundant flowering, bougainvilleas need direct sun for at least 5 hours a day; if it is possible to provide more, that’s great. In shade or even partial shade, bougainvillea will grow well, but there will be little, if any, flowering.
During the period of bud set, before flowering, bougainvillea needs high air humidity; this is easy to achieve when kept outdoors during the warm period.
In the Moscow region there is quite a decent level of air humidity, but indoors you will have to work hard to ensure the air humidity is not lower than 60%. Once the flowers bloom, bougainvillea will be much more tolerant of low humidity.
After a winter period of relative dormancy, bougainvillea actively increases its vegetative mass, and if it receives enough sunlight during this period, it will lay many buds. If there is not enough sun, it will continue to grow, but will not bloom. After flowering begins, leaf and shoot growth will stop for several weeks.
Propagation of bougainvillea at home
Photo: YouTube
There is room for experimentation, because there is always more than enough material for reproduction.
By cuttings. The easiest and most reliable way.
In June, cut non-flowering, semi-lignified branches with 2 - 3 buds, preferably from those that grow deep into the crown and thicken it (you can take the apical branches in February - March), remove the lower leaves from them, cut each top one to half, and leave it for a day into a glass with a solution of Kornevin or Heteroauxin, treat the sections with crushed coal. Then the cuttings are woven into plastic cups with a moistened mixture of peat and sand, covered with a cut plastic bottle and placed in a warm place at 25 - 26 ° C. The improvised greenhouse is periodically ventilated and the soil is slightly moistened.
Remove the lid when the cuttings begin to grow. After a couple of months, they are transferred to pots with a mixture of leaf soil, peat, sand and compost (2:1:1:1) and placed where the temperature is at least 20 °C.
The branches are pinched when they lengthen to 5 cm. And when the roots entwine a lump of earth, the bougainvilleas are transplanted into larger containers with a similar substrate, as well as drainage at the bottom.
Air layering. The operation is carried out at any time of the year. Young, non-lignified shoots are selected, scratches are made on the bark approximately in the middle of each with a clean knife, they are bent to a nearby pot with moist soil and secured with a metal bracket so that the cuts lie firmly on the ground.
When the air layerings take root, they are separated and transplanted into individual pots.
Seeds. This method is the most difficult. It is impossible to obtain your own seeds at home. We need pollinators of flowers with thin proboscis, such as hummingbirds. However, there are examples when bougainvillea in the country was pollinated by “long-nosed” hawkmoth moths, which do not land on flowers, but hover over them (2). Such cases are so rare in our region that experts perceive them as a real miracle. However, seeds today can be bought on the Internet.
They are sown from late February to mid-April in loose, nutritious soil made from leafy soil, peat and sand (1:1:1). Ready-made soil for flower seedlings is also suitable. The seeds are soaked for several hours in a solution of Epin or Zircon and sown to a depth of 5 mm every 3 cm in a container under a transparent lid. Place in a warm place or on a special heated mat, moderately moistening the substrate.
When the shoots appear (in 2 - 3 months!), they are placed under a phytolamp, periodically sprayed with warm, settled water and ventilated. In the 2-3 phase, the leaves are carefully dropped into separate cups.
Why bougainvillea does not bloom and other problems with the plant
Problem | Reason and solution |
Bougainvillea has stopped growing. | The root system does not have enough space in the pot. The plant should be transplanted into a larger container, but its volume should not exceed the previous one by more than 3-4 cm. |
Young leaves are too small in size. | Most likely the flower does not have enough nutrition. Feed it with liquid complex mineral fertilizers for flowering plants. |
The foliage turns yellow and withers. | Excess moisture leads to disruption of metabolic processes, causing the leaves to become lethargic and then turn yellow. |
The flower has dropped its green leaves. | Lack of moisture. If the plant is too dry, it doesn’t hesitate for a long time and quickly makes it clear that it doesn’t have enough watering. |
The bougainvillea has lost its leaves and color. | This usually happens due to changes in climatic conditions and habitual place of residence. For example, a draft, a sudden change in temperature, too dry air, a violation of the watering regime. Bougainvillea does not tolerate being moved from place to place during flowering. |
The plant has stopped blooming. | There may be several reasons.
|
Replanting bougainvillea at home
The roots of bougainvillea should not be too free, otherwise it will not bloom much. Therefore, take a pot such that its diameter is 2 cm larger than the earthen ball of the seedling. Then the thin roots will have time to absorb the volume of soil, and it will not turn sour even with abundant watering. True, if the plant is cramped, it will grow more slowly, but at the same time bloom more abundantly. In an apartment, this is not just the optimal, but also the desirable option.
The speed of stretching bougainvillea stems must also be taken into account, because in this it is a record holder: in a year it can grow 3 m! If you don’t limit it and don’t slow it down. A compact potty is one method of containment.
But in everything you need to know when to stop, and when it becomes clear that the beauty needs to be transplanted into a larger container, such an operation must be performed. It is best to do this in March, annually for young plants, and once every 3-4 years for adults.
Since bougainvillea suffers greatly from such a procedure, one has to resort to careful transfer from a smaller container to a larger one. Do not deepen the root collar or overcompact the fresh nutritious soil poured into a larger pot around the lump of earth. The migrant is kept in partial shade for several days, and then moved to a comfortable permanent place on the southern or western windowsill.
Features of caring for bougainvillea during the dormant period
Features of keeping bougainvillea at home in winter
Bougainvillea does not need a period of deep dormancy, it can grow and bloom all year round, but sometimes it is easier to put it into a state of forced dormancy than to mess around in the winter, providing ventilation, additional lighting, and air humidity of at least 60%.
If you are not able to provide bougainvillea with all these conditions in the autumn-winter period, provide a cool winter at a temperature no higher than +10 ° C and reduce watering to a minimum so that the root system does not dry out too much.
Bougainvillea diseases
Bougainvilleas have very strong immunity and suffer from diseases infrequently. Some may find this statement controversial, because plants shed leaves at any trifle. This happens before a period of rest, after a draft, due to moving the pot to another window sill, or simply when the pot is turned on the other side to the sun. But the “violent” reaction is not scary - as soon as the life of bougainvillea improves, it grows back as if nothing had happened. However, bougainvilleas can get sick.
Chlorosis. The first signs of buoyancy are the leaves turning pale, on which faded spots appear, growth slows down, and the number of flowers decreases.
At the first signs of disease, plants are fed with iron chelate and complex fertilizer with microelements.
Fungal infections. They appear on the leaves in the form of powdery coating, spotting, and rot.
The affected parts of the plant are removed, watering is stopped for a while and sprayed with fungicidal aerosols for indoor flowers or Fundazol (3) (1 g per 1 l). The soil is loosened from above, sand, sphagnum or pieces of coal are added to it.
If the roots are rotten, remove the plant from the pot, cut off the diseased areas, keep the healthy ones in a solution of Fitosporin-M (3) for a short time, then treat the sections with crushed coal or ash, then plant them in a new substrate. The crown is also treated with Fitosporin-M according to the instructions.
What does bougainvillea like?
In order for the bush to bloom profusely every year, the pot must be placed on a bright windowsill. To protect from direct sunlight, a screen made of a thin curtain, but not paper, is installed on the window, since then there will not be enough light.
It is necessary to exclude drafts, from which the bush will begin to hurt and may disappear.
As for the air temperature in the room, it depends on the time of year:
- in the spring-summer period, 25 degrees Celsius is considered optimal;
- in winter, you should create a dormant period for the flower and move it to a cool room (not higher than 15, but not lower than 10 degrees Celsius).
To increase air humidity, bougainvillea should be sprayed without getting on the flowers themselves, or a humidifier should be installed. The flower also responds well to bathing under running water.
In the hot season, the vine should be watered frequently, at the same time adding mineral fertilizers twice a month. With the onset of cold weather, the intervals between waterings should be increased, and in winter, only spray the soil a little.
To restrain the wild growth of bougainvillea and give the bush a well-groomed appearance, dried and too thin branches are cut out in the spring, and in the fall the crown is thinned out and the remaining branches are cut to a height of 7 cm.
Bougainvillea pests
Photo: pixabay.com
Insects can be brought into the house on purchased flowers. As a rule, these are typical harmful insects and measures to combat them are traditional. During treatment with chemicals, it is better to cover bougainvillea with plastic bags.
Aphid. This little thing is easy to detect with the naked eye, most often on the back of the leaves. She sucks the juices out of them, covering them with spots.
Plants are treated against insects with Actellik (3) (15 - 20 drops per 1 liter of water). Mealybug. Also a familiar “beast”. It is also called the hairy louse, felt louse (4). The white hairy crumbs can quickly turn a bougainvillea into a herbarium, but first they will coat the leaves with sticky honeydew or sooty fungus.
If there are a lot of scale insects, they resort to the help of Karbofos, Aktara, Aktellika or Fitoverma (3), treating the plants at least 2 - 3 times.
But this is an extreme measure, if the plant is not too affected, the leaves are wiped with a swab moistened with a soap solution (1 teaspoon of shavings per 1 liter of boiling water) once a week until the enemy is completely destroyed. After each treatment, wash with a warm shower.
Bougainvillea is also sprayed with emulsion (1 liter of warm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil).
Outdoor care
Photo: https://pixabay.com/photos/bougainvillea-plant-nature-flower-66533/
Bougainvillea in our latitudes can only grow indoors, but in the summer, pots and vases can be taken outside.
The flower is not afraid of the scorching direct rays of the sun, but does not tolerate drafts, so choose a place for it that is warm, light and not drafty.
Popular questions and answers
The popularity of bougainvillea among gardeners is great, so there are many questions about its cultivation. We addressed them to the expert, bougainvillea collector Elena Pchelnikova.
How to choose bougainvillea?
To begin with, it is better to take cuttings with a good root system from our most unpretentious, fast-growing and inexpensive varieties, especially since any plant is beautiful. And you shouldn’t start with variegated varieties - they are more difficult to care for and require a proven irrigation system without flooding.
What kind of pot is needed for bougainvillea?
For young bougainvillea, choose a pot with a volume of 0.4 - 0.5 liters. It should be tall but not too wide. If it is too large, you will have to wait a long time for flowering. To prevent the roots from overheating from the sun, it is better to choose light-colored containers. Drainage holes and a tray are required, because excess water must be drained immediately, since bougainvillea does not tolerate stagnant moisture.
Why do bougainvillea leaves fall?
During the dormant period, when bougainvillea lacks light or is kept at low temperatures, the plant may lose almost all its foliage. At this time, watering is reduced. In the spring, the plant will regain all the lost green mass immediately after changing the conditions. I noticed in my plants that bougainvillea can lose some of its foliage before blooming, and then becomes covered with bright caps, remaining with bare branches.
Is it possible to grow bougainvillea outdoors?
In our country, it can grow in open ground only in the south - on the Black Sea coast of Crimea and in the Caucasus. But even there in winter it must be covered. After all, plant roots are not frost-resistant and lowering the temperature to 5 °C is destructive for them. In more northern regions, sissy can only be raised in greenhouse conditions: a greenhouse, a winter garden, an apartment, or on an insulated loggia.
Sources
- Shwede E.E. Louis Antoine de Bougainville and his voyage around the world (Preface to the book by L.A. de Bougainville “A round-the-world voyage on the frigate “Boudeuse” and the transport “Etoile” in 1766, 1767, 1768 and 1769. // M.: Main Publishing House of Geographical Literature , 1960
- Gornostaev G.N. Insects of the USSR (Reference books for geographers and travelers) // Moscow: Mysl, 1970.
- State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use on the territory of the Russian Federation as of July 6, 2022 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii- i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/
- Striganova B.R., Zakharov A.A. Five-language dictionary of animal names: Insects / Ed. Doctor of Biology sciences, prof. Striganova B.R. // M.: Russo, 2000.
Bougainvillea flower - botanical description
The plant's homeland is considered to be South America, in particular Brazil. This is where bougainvillea feels most comfortable.
It received its name at the end of the eighteenth century in honor of the French traveler Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who then said that “I pin my hope for my fame on the flower.” However, an island in Oceania, several straits, a reef, a cape, an oceanic depression and a waterfall were also named after him. So this worthy citizen reliably perpetuated his name for posterity.
Bougainvillea, or bougainvillea (with emphasis on the last “e”), is an evergreen shrub or low tree, naturally reaching a height of up to five meters. The vine stems are very flexible, they grow quickly and stretch up the support, entwining rocks, pillars, and walls of houses. In South American countries, this plant is actively used in landscape design.
Flowering lasts almost all year round. The flowers themselves are very small and difficult to notice, but the bracts, in the axil of which the inconspicuous flowers are located, are bright and large. It is they who represent decorative value. We will not go into botanical subtleties, we will focus on the terms familiar to us - flowers or flowers.
The leaves are usually light green, but can be variegated. At the base they are wide, and the ends are pointed, the edges are smooth.
The genus includes eighteen species and some of them are cultivated as indoors, in particular, Bougainvillea naked, Bougainvillea peruvian and Bougainvillea remarkable.
The plant feels at ease in a subtropical climate, where even in winter the temperature rarely drops to +5 °C. Unfortunately, in our latitudes, the bougainvillea flower can only grow at home. However, at present, many miniature hybrids have been bred, which, depending on pruning, can decorate your home as a vine, lush flowering shrub or an original bonsai tree.
Flowering of indoor species occurs from May to November, the lifespan of the plant is five to ten years. The plant does not die, it simply stops blooming, and the shoots become woody.