How many varieties and colours of Bougainvillea are there?

Bougainvillea blooms always come to mind when we think of the tropics, and today there are over 300 registered varieties of bougainvillea worldwide, from compact dwarfs to gorgeous doubles, and those with wonderful variegated leaves.

The actual flower of the bougainvillea is very small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with this plant. These colourful bracts come in an astounding range of colours, and in all hues, tints and shades of pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, yellow or white, and combinations of these colours.

Because natural mutations seem to occur spontaneously wherever large numbers of bougainvillea plants are being produced, many of the hybrids have been crossed over several generations, so it’s almost impossible to identify their origins, causing confusion and multiple names for the same cultivar.

When does Bougainvillea flower?

The natural habitat of bougainvillea is equatorial where day and night lengths are almost equal, and in these latitudes it tends to bloom year round. If grown in other latitudes bougainvilleas can flower sporadically throughout summer, but they often put on their best show in autumn and spring. In winter rainfall regions they will bloom prolifically during the dry summer and autumn months.

Naturally gardeners wish to find companion plants that flower at the same time as their bougainvillea, but do not make this mistake, as the secret to a beautiful garden is to select plants that bloom at various times throughout the year, and to intersperse them with evergreen shrubs. In cold regions evergreen shrubs will brighten up those dull gaps when your bougainvillea may be leafless.

Bouginvillea Red and Star Jasmine. Picture by cultivar413 from flickrHow to use Bougainvillea effectively in the garden?

The versatility of bougainvillea in the garden is legendary, as it can be coaxed into a small manageable pot plant and even a bonsai, or it can be trained into a sizeable climber, shrub, tree, or standard specimen.

The dwarf varieties make excellent edging plants, groundcovers and low hedges, and are also great as small manageable pot plants. Larger growing varieties are best to train as trees or sizeable shrubs. And, if given a sturdy support to spread itself vertically up a wall or over a trellis or arbour, bougainvillea will climb all the way to the top to form a luscious crown of gracefully arching branches.

Bougainvillea tolerates constant shaping and pruning, and for topiary and bonsai purposes it has few equals. This, together with its densely branched growth habit and thorns, makes bougainvillea one of the most beautiful impenetrable hedges.

How to select the best companion plants for Bougainvillea?

When choosing companion plants for bougainvillea, having a clear colour scheme in mind is naturally most important, but even more important is that the plants you select must also have similar growing requirements. Take note of the conditions in your garden such as soil type and climate, and how much sun the garden bed receives, and when grouping plants together always ensure that they all have the same watering requirements. 

Members can click here to read more about cultivating Bougainvilleas

It’s always a good idea to consult with your local garden centre for recommendations tailored to your specific growing region. Your neighbours could give you good advice too, so take a walk around your neighbourhood, speak to other gardeners, take photographs of all the plants you like, and if you don’t know their names, your local garden centre will be able to assist.

Bougainvillea. Image by Hoang Long McKenzil from PixabayWhat growing conditions do Bougainvilleas and their companions require?

Although the evergreen bougainvillea thrives in moist and humid tropical and coastal regions and has a high salt tolerance, it is also remarkably hardy to moderate frost if positioned in a warm and sheltered spot in the garden. However, in cold regions it may drop all its leaves in winter.

In subtropical, frost free regions choosing companion plants is easy and there are many exciting tropical plants to choose from. Naturally, in cold and frosty regions your selection would consist of frost hardy evergreens to fill in those bare patches in winter, and perennials and shrubs which bloom in summer.

Bougainvilleas can tolerate heat and love full sun so their companions also should. However, if you are planting large specimens, as your bougainvillea grows it may cast more shade on lower growing plants around it, so selecting perennials or grasses that will take both sun and some shade may be best.

Bougainvilleas also require good drainage and rich soil, and once established they are extremely drought tolerant, making bougainvillea perfect for a water-wise landscape, so their companions should also not require excessive watering.  When choosing an area to plant, especially in soils that don’t drain well, planting on higher ground, or planting in raised beds is best, as this will allow excessive water to drain away from the roots.

The amount of watering required will vary depending on the size of the plant, the soil type, and prevailing weather conditions, and your plants will naturally need more frequent watering during hot and dry summers and less during the cool winter months. Potted plants will require more frequent watering than those in garden beds.

TIP: Avoid constant light watering as this will promote a weak and shallow root system, and also prevent any major colouring on your bougainvillea.

Because bougainvilleas bloom so profusely, they respond well to regular fertilisation during the blooming season, and especially those growing in pots. Luckily most companion plants will also flourish in the garden with regular feeding.

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How to Create a Colour Palette with the Hues, Tints and Shades of Bougainvilleas?

Regardless of what design or theme you have chosen, make sure you know what colours you want before you start choosing plants. You can create a mood or even change the perspective of a garden by using certain colours. Think about how you want to use colour not only for the way you think it will look but also for the mood you want to create in the garden.

Colour WheelA basic knowledge of the colour wheel will greatly improve the look and feel of your garden, and to make practical use of the colour wheel all you need is a picture of it. Alternatively you could download specialized software from the internet which shows you multiple colour combinations.

A basic colour wheel is based on the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue; three secondary colours, green, orange and purple; and the six tertiary colours, red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet. They appear in the same order as they do in the colour spectrum of the rainbow and are arranged by their relationships to each other; progressing from violet-red to red to orange-red to orange to yellow-orange to yellow and so on.

Most modern colour wheels only contain 12 colours, but in nature there are many more hues. Using the colour wheel will help to train your eye to see the relationships between colours and how they transform and play off against one another.

Remember that green always achieves a pleasing transition for the eye from one shade to the next.

How to use Warm and Cool Colours in the Landscape?

Warm and cool colours always work well side by side to add contrast. Warm colours like red, yellow, orange, gold, beige, and creamy neutrals tend to come forward or feel closer to you in the landscape, and cool colours like green, blue and purple, and variations of these three colours tend to go away from you, or feel distant to you and recede in a garden.

If you use mainly warm colours in the spectrum from red through orange to yellow, you should add some cool colours to tone down the palette, and the opposite applies if you have designed a cool coloured garden and need to add a bit of warmth. Just use their opposites on the colour wheel.

How to use Neutral Colours in the Landscape?

As a rule, neutral colours like white, black, or grey are considered neither warm nor cool. However, a colour may appear to lean more toward one side of the spectrum than the other, depending on its undertones. For example, a cream colour with yellow undertones will appear warm, while a grey with blue undertones may seem cool.

How to use Monochromatic Colours in the landscape?

Monochromatic Colours. Image by Rita from Pixabay

A monochromatic colour scheme is when only one colour is used in its various shades, tints and tones. This scheme looks clean and elegant, producing a soothing effect, and is often a good choice for beginners as it avoids the chaos of using too many colours, and trains the eye to see the differences within a single colour. In this type of garden 'less is more' and plants need to be repeated throughout the garden for their texture as well as their hue.

 

 

How to use Complimentary Colours in the landscape?

Complimentary Colours. Image by Monika Schröder from Pixabay

Complimentary colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel, like red and green, orange and blue, purple and yellow. Using only two colours like this will give maximum contrast and stability in the garden but they must be used carefully or the effect could be jarring to the eye. Try to favour one colour and use your second choice only as an accent. With this type of colour scheme 'less is more' and it relies on the repetition of plants throughout the garden, together with the texture and form of the shrubs selected, rather than on too much colour.

 

 How to use Analogous Colours in the landscape?

Analogous Colours. Image by Marjon Besteman from Pixabay

Analogous involves working with two or three colours that are next to one another on the wheel, like yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange, or red, orange and yellow. Usually one of the three colours predominates. It relies on the repetition of plants throughout the garden, together with the texture and form of the shrubs selected.

 

 

How to use Triadic Colours in the landscape?

Triadic Colours. Image by Björn Eichenauer from Pixabay

Triadic colour schemes make use of three colours that are an equal distance apart on the colour wheel, such as the primary colours red, yellow and blue, or secondary colours like yellow-green, blue-violet, and red-orange. This colour scheme can be lovely if it does not rely only on colour alone, but also on the texture and colouring of the surrounding shrubs. It is suggested that you select one main colour and use the other two colours to add contrast.

 

How to use Polychromatic Colours in the landscape?

A Polychromatic colour scheme uses every colour but it requires much thought to achieve a successful riot of all colours. Neighbouring plants need careful consideration in such a garden, and it is not recommended for beginners.

How to Match the Right Colours with your Bougainvillea?

 

What colours go best with Purple Bougainvilleas?

Bougainvillea 'Purple' Image by Najib Zamri from PixabayWhen you look out across a garden, cool purple colours seem to recede, and in garden design these shades are used for adding depth, and to make spaces seem more expansive. Purple flowers also help to weave other colours together, and from a distance they merge into a soft purple haze.

Colour temperature is important when you’re working with purple – just as it is with pink, so be very selective when choosing colours to pair with the various hues of purple.

Cool purples like blue-purple is an intense, dark hue, sometimes called “Indigo” or “Ultra Violet”, and is experienced as sophisticated, soothing and peaceful. This colour adds weight to a flower border, and is useful for anchoring bright colours, and separating and defining others.

Warm purples, like red-purple are vibrant and energetic, and in garden design they are used to create drama and for bridging the gap between red and orange. Warm purple includes “Deep Magenta”, ‘Boysenberry”, “Mauve”, and also deeper shades like “Maroon” and “Plum”.

To accentuate the power of purple, pair it with its complementary colour, yellow. When positioned side-by-side these two colours practically vibrate with energy. But with such strong combinations 'less is more' and its best to reserve this colour combo for accents rather than themes.

Warmer purples also pair well with yellow-green, also known as “Chartreuse”, and cooler shades of purple pair well with yellow-orange.

What colours go best with Orange Bougainvilleas?

Bougainvillea 'Orange' Image by LoggaWiggler from PixabayOrange is a warm and vibrant colour that is challenging to use well, but very exciting when you get it right. On the colour wheel orange is a secondary colour made by combining two primary colours, red and yellow. Because true orange contains no blue, there’s nothing to calm it down, and using too much can be overwhelming. Orange grabs your eye and holds your attention, and in the landscape orange flowers trick the eye and seem to come forward, appearing to be closer than they actually are.

If you love orange, pair it by selecting tints and shades that are lighter than full strength orange, and include colours like “Cream”, “Peach”, and “Cantaloupe” which is described as: “A light-as-air orange with the barest whisper of pink undertones”. Shades of darker orange include colours such as ‘Butterscotch” and “Terracotta”.

Blue is the best complementary colour for orange, but because there just aren’t many flowers that are true-blue in colour, use colours that are adjacent to blue on the colour wheel like purple and violet to provide contrast.

Yellow is another good companion for orange, and adding citrusy colours is like adding a squirt of lemon to your flower bed, making it look fresher and more zingy.

For an edgy modern look combine orange with hot pink for beautifully unexpected results.

What colours go best with Yellow Bougainvilleas?

Bougainvillea 'Yellow'Yellow is the brightest and lightest colour in the spectrum, and too much of it can be hard on the eyes. In the garden, yellow shines brighter, and remains visible longer in the evening than flowers of any other colour, except white. The effect of yellow is warm, cheerful, and friendly, and according to real-estate agents, if you want to sell your house, plant yellow flowers in front of it.

Because yellow grabs your attention it is wonderful to use with an equally strong, bright colour like white, because, although yellow and white are well matched in value, they vie for attention without detracting from each other. One of the crispest, freshest, and most appealing colour schemes in garden design is yellow, white, and green. Green, being the darker hue, sets off the two lighter, brighter hues to perfection.

As with the other colours, primary yellow stands between warm golden yellow (red added), which creates harmony between warm reds and the oranges, and cool lemon yellow (blue added) which works well with cool dark reds. While most yellows can coexist happily in the garden, some gardeners prefer to segregate the warm and cool versions, finding their contrast disconcerting.

Using complementary colours opposite each other on the colour wheel always works, and yellows most striking contrast of all is with purple, violet or blue, as these two opposing hues are as different as night and day.

Surprisingly, one of the best ways to use yellow flowers is to plant them in broad brushstrokes. To make this work, choose only one type of flower, in a single shade of yellow, and plant a lot of it.

Grey or lime green foliage also looks wonderful with yellow, and if you are using warm and cool yellows together, white is used to create a bridge between them.

What colours go best with Pink Bougainvilleas?

Bougainvillea 'Pink'

Gardeners often have a strong opinion about the colour pink, and it can be a challenging colour to work with, yet pink can enhance almost every garden, as long as you know what kind of pink you're dealing with. And when choosing plants for your garden you need to be able to recognize the difference between a true pink, a warm pink and a cool pink.

As a pure colour, pink does not contain yellow or blue and is simply a paler version of the primary colour red. The tint, tone or shade of pure pink is altered by adding white or black to get variations of the same hue. Using hues of pure pink is a monochromatic colour scheme which always works well in the landscape, and when working with pink is best for beginners to adopt.

When you change the temperature of a pure colour, combinations begin to get trickier, and especially with pink, and although not a hard and fast rule, your pink flower garden will be more successful if you stick with either warm or cool hues of pink.

Warm pinks are created by adding yellow to a true pink hue, and tend to be calming and easy on the eye. Warm pink colours include “Coral”, “Peach”, “Salmon” and “Strawberry”. Cool pinks are more energizing and are made by adding a little blue to true pink and include colours with names like “Carnation”, “Fuchsia”, “Orchid Pink” and “Hot Pink”.

Believe it or not, warm pink can blend beautifully with red, and also with orange and yellow. Teal blue is warm pink’s complementary colour on the colour wheel, so plants with grey blue or blue-green foliage make good companions, as do olive greens. The key to success is keeping warm with warm.

Cool pink flowers look stunning paired with violet, burgundy and purple, and don’t forget to include lighter or deeper shades of true pink. For a more vibrant look, consider combining cool pink with orange and/or yellow. Grey foliage also looks good with cool pink, and its complementary colour is lime green, so be on the lookout for opportunities to incorporate yellow-green foliage.

What colours go best with Red Bougainvilleas?

bougainvillea 'Crimson'Red flowers stand out from their surroundings and demand to get noticed. In a large garden, you can use this to your advantage, as red attracts attention, especially from a distance. In a small garden, it’s easy for red flowers to dominate.

Red, a primary colour, is the boldest and most provocative hue on the colour wheel, and in its pure form it does not contain any of the other two primaries (yellow and blue). Common names for true red include: “Crimson”, “Carmine” and “Fire Engine Red”.  As painters know, you can deepen a true red by adding black to retain the same colour value, but get a variety of darker shades.

True red can be made warmer by adding yellow, and these warm, red-orange hues have names like: “Vermillion”, “Tomato-red” and “Scarlet”. When true red is tinged with blue it becomes both more complex and subdued, and these colours have names such as “Maroon”, “Burgundy”, “Currant”, “Ruby”, “Oxblood” and “Russet”. When you are able to see the ‘temperature’ of a red flower - whether it tends toward warm or cool, it's far easier to come up with good companions.

The flowers in this colour range are bold and fiery, and landscapers know how red pops in the landscape, and typically use it as an element of surprise within a larger planting scheme. Red flowers are placed intentionally and used sparingly, rather like scatter cushions in a living room. If you want to introduce energy and excitement into your garden, you want red in your design palette, and if used correctly red can add a whole new level of sophistication to your design.

Green is the complementary colour for red, and in gardens where green is the dominant colour, our eyes experience red at its maximum intensity.

When looking for flower partners for red, you can also include colours like yellow, lime green, coral and burgundy. And if you want to emphasize red’s heat, pair it with orange's complementary colour, blue.

What colours go best with White Bougainvilleas?

Bougainvillea 'White'

Though white is not considered a colour it can be an exciting design tool to make a garden look chic and elegant, quiet and calm, or cool and fresh. In garden design white is used to create many different styles, and can influence how we feel in a certain space. White flowers reflect light and dark colours absorb it, so when the light is low in the morning and evening white flowers seem to come toward us while dark colours recede, and at night white glows in the moonlight or under garden lights. Although white flowers are striking and grab our attention, if you use too much white you can wind up with a garden that’s just as loud and unsettling as one that's filled with red and orange flowers.

There’s a classic, timeless quality to white flowers and, as with all the colours, flowers that we call “white” are rarely pure white, but either cool whites (with tints of blue) or warm whites (with tints of yellow or pink). This will influence your garden design, and it’s best to pair cool white flowers with cool colours, and warm white flowers with warm colours.

The goal of any garden should always be to create pleasing shapes in the landscape, and white flowers need to be partnered with a rich green background of foliage plants to look their best, as it’s the contrast that gives white flowers both their crisp definition and their ethereal magic. Remember to also work with the shapes of flowers and foliage, and take into consideration whether they are tall and spiky, or soft and mounding. Ornamental grasses work well with white flowers and help integrate them into the landscape.

The best way to use white is judiciously, to emphasise contrasts and to create interruptions between colours. White blossoms are brought out dramatically when planted with dark or jewel-toned colours. Creamy whites usually look better with warm, yellowy greens, and plants with bronze or brown foliage are also good companions for warm whites. Cool white flowers are best paired with plants that have a blue cast, and  greys and silvers will soften cool white flowers and help them blend in rather than stand out.

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