Bougainvilleas—Double is Far Less Trouble By Paula Szilard Tired of sweeping bougainvillea blossoms off of your floor? Get some of the new double blossomed varieties and save yourself the cleanup! Miraculously, these new introductions hang on to their flowers and papery bracts seemingly forever. Although dry and parchment-like, the bracts still provide good winter color in a sunny window. Eventually, they look droopy and loose their color. That’s when you take out your snips and deadhead. Logee’s now has four of these double varieties—‘Double White’ with a touch of pink, ‘Double Red,’ ‘Pagoda Pink’ and ‘Double Gold,’ which actually is more of a peachy pink color. There are numerous other sources on the internet, if you prefer to order online. I am usually wary unless I am familiar with the company. Most of the internet sellers are companies I am unfamiliar with. The flowers and colored bracts look very similar to those of regular bougainvilleas, only they are much fuller. I purchased two of the ‘Double Red’ and a ‘Double Gold’ last year. They started to bloom about six weeks after they arrived and have been in bloom almost constantly ever since. These trailing plants can be grown in hanging baskets, trellised or even staked. A nice bonus is that they don’t seem to mind our dry indoor winters or even our summer heat and dryness outdoors. Nor are they especially susceptible to diseases and pests and now that clean up is not an issue, they make excellent houseplants.

Bougainvilleas—Double is Far Less Trouble

Paula Szilard

Tired of sweeping bougainvillea blossoms off of your floor? Get some of the new double blossomed varieties and save yourself the cleanup! Miraculously, these new introductions hang on to their flowers and papery bracts seemingly forever. Although dry and parchment-like, the bracts still provide good winter color in a sunny window. Eventually, they look droopy and loose their color. That’s when you take out your snips and deadhead.

Logee’s now has four of these double varieties—‘Double White’ with a touch of pink, ‘Double Red,’ ‘Pagoda Pink’ and ‘Double Gold,’ which actually is more of a peachy pink color. There are numerous other sources on the internet, if you prefer to order online. I am usually wary unless I am familiar with the company. Most of the internet sellers are companies I am unfamiliar with.

The flowers and colored bracts look very similar to those of regular bougainvilleas, only they are much fuller. I purchased two of the ‘Double Red’ and a ‘Double Gold’ last year. They started to bloom about six weeks after they arrived and have been in bloom

almost constantly ever since.

These trailing plants can be grown in hanging baskets, trellised or even staked. A nice bonus is that they don’t seem to mind our dry indoor winters or even our summer heat and dryness outdoors. Nor are they especially susceptible to diseases and pests and now that clean up is not an issue, they make excellent houseplants.