Originating and still widely cultivated on the tropical islands in the South Pacific, Bougainvillea became a popular plant in the San Fernando Valley, thriving in its notoriously hot and dry climate. Perhaps the most favorite variety of Bougainvillea in Woodland Hills is the hybrid evergreen ‘Barbara Karst’.

This most showy shrub or vine vigorously grows to 30 feet high and wide, justifying its formidable size by bringing forth astonishingly showy blossoms. Throughout the year, the plant is clad with clusters of bright red to magenta-red bracts surrounding tiny white flowers that last for a long time. Periodically, the colorful blossoms give way to half-inch long inconspicuous fruits.

The Bougainvillea plant is named after the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) who, as the leader of the first French circumnavigation of the globe, performed consequential research in the South Pacific, and likely brought the specimen, along with other tropical vegetation, with him back to Europe.

Height: 8 to 40 feet
Width: 5 to 30 feet
Spacing: 3 feet

Soil: loam, sand, moist but well-drained
pH: acid, neutral
Exposure: full sun

Water: low water
Tolerance: drought
Toxicity: not found

Wildlife: attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and birds

Pronunciation: ˌbo͞oɡənˈvilēə, ˌbōɡənˈvilēə
Spelling: Bougainvillea, Bougainvillaea

Bougainvillea 'Sundown Orange'

Bougainvillea 'Sundown Orange'

Gardenia. (n.d.). Bougainvillea x buttiana 'Barbara Karst'. https://www.gardenia.net/plant/bougainvillea-buttiana-barbara-karst

Princeton University Library. (n.d.). Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, 1729—1811. https://library.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/bougainville/bougainville.html