Bougainvillea leaf reduction

[Lorax7]

Question for those of you who have mature, ramified bougainvillea bonsai in refinement: How small are the leaves ultimately on a well-ramified tree (assuming it’s a regular non-dwarf variety)? I’m in the planning stages now for a root over statue planting and wanting to ensure that whatever I ultimately plant will end up being reasonably proportioned in relation to the statue. I have a purple bougie that I’m considering for this planting.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Is not that they dont ramify well, with pinching you can get decen ramification, the problem is that they drop the fine and small weak branches very easily, they tend to give all the strenght and vigour to suckers and branches that go straight up as is they natural growing habitus

 

[Lorax7]

Is not that they dont ramify well, with pinching you can get decen ramification, the problem is that they drop the fine and small weak branches very easily, they tend to give all the strenght and vigour to suckers and branches that go straight up as is they natural growing habitus

How small do the leaves typically end up getting, given those limitations?

 

[Crazy Diamond]

The regular B. spectabilis Ive seen fairly small leaves when they are in pot for years, but again is tricky to keep the fine small ramification in the long run

 

[Bonsai Pete]

Maybe a little over an inch on this one