Bougainvillea indoors in Colorado?

[Cadillactaste]

I happen to live where bougainvillea grow freely in landscape and I have to say... I kinda don't like them Let's face it, they are a thorny vine that, with constant attention, you can beat into a thorny hedge. Perhaps I wouldn't feel this way if I wasn't constantly battling with them (they will throw 8-12' thorny runners in all directions if you let them).

Yes they can look beautiful if you trim them at the right time, and get all of the branch tips to push bracts all at once. But to do this, you have to trim the long runners before they become long runners, so that they will develop fine ramification. And if you don't have hot conditions with lots of direct sun they will pout and throw leggy growth. They don't even like partial shade down here. I have a bush next to my koi pond that gets a little shade from a Canary date palm... and though it grows I never get any color from it. I personally think trying to grow a bougainvillea bonsai in anything other than perfect tropical conditions would be an exercise in futility.

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Let me edit this to say... rather than "I don't like them" I think you can find many other flowering / colorful bonsai that you can keep in your setting that will cause you less grief, and give you more pleasure.

If you want flowers, go for Japanese azaleas or Chinese quince. If you want fruit... and want to travel down the rabbit hole... go for the holy grail.... princess persimmon You could probably also keep golden bean kumquat.

Pink pixie have no thorns. Lol

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Will the azalea work in my setting? I thought they were an outdoor only tree.

Japanese azaleas would be perfect for your setting. They are evergreen plants that will grow in a wide range of conditions - from zones 6-9 in landscape, though for me (in zone 10A) I have to provide protection from dry wind. They require shade / indirect lighting. Full sun they will burn. So they would do well in an indoor space as long as it doesn't get too dry. The key to azaleas: make sure to keep the soil acidic. In CO I assume you have good water. In SoCal our water is poor, and pH out of the tap is 8.0 - 8.5. Azaleas need pH of 4.5 - 6.0 (not kidding).

 

[Bonsai Nut]

How can you kinda' not like that?

It looks even fancier when I have the Christmas lights on it That photo was taken in early December.

California everything goes into dormancy in late summer. And then when the rains come in November/December, all the plants come out to play

 

[Carol 83]

It looks even fancier when I have the Christmas lights on it That photo was taken in early December.

California everything goes into dormancy in late summer. And then when the rains come in November/December, all the plants come out to play

I know you've said you lived in the Midwest, so you understand my dismay and anger that you have a show like that in December and still kind'a not like it. I just need to move.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I know you've said you lived in the Midwest, so you understand my dismay and anger that you have a show like that in December and still kind'a not like it. I just need to move.

Well that was the perfect bush, in the perfect year, at the perfect moment. I keep that photo around to flaunt how good they can look - but not even that bush looks exactly like that each year.

They are really leggy. In MidWest talk think "wild grape vine" leggy. They are 10x worse than wild blackberry. In landscape, they work best if you can get them to sprawl on something like a horse fence or stone wall. If you let them run they can really run - and if they can climb they will do so. I just pulled about one entire garbage can of bougainvillea out of a large privet bush/tree in our backyard. I am not exaggerating when I say that some of the runners were 20'. That is how you see some big bougainvillea stumps for sale as pre-bonsai. They are coming from big landscape bushes that have been trimmed as hedges for 40+ years. In the front yard, my gardeners just keep them wacked back with hedge clippers, so they look trimmed - but they will never show color if you constantly beat them back. You have to let them push runners... but then cut the runners just as they are beginning to extend. It depends a little on the season and the rain. But if you do it just right, they will backbud heavily instead of running, and you will get heavy ramification, and then a powderpuff of color. It isn't something you can do with a hedge clipper however. The bush in my photo I hand-trimmed