I took this photo in Oct 2005 at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. The bougainvillea is trailing on steel rods and I remember being awed by the plant. I remember this plant just grows anywhere in Manila, so it has a warm spot in my heart. I wish I can grow it, but hesitant to do so knowing how this thrives better in a more humid setting.

It's beautiful. It grew well on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, and it was very humid there. Your part of California is not so humid?

Yeah my current location is more inland, much drier.

If you don't get frosts it should grow for you. Do you see any in the area where you are? We had them all over in San Jose, 9b zone and that is very low humidity, I think LA and San Diego would be too where I always saw a lot. I am in 9a now so more frost.

I do not see them grown around..though it is available at the big box stores locally. Maybe it can be grown, but may require more watering to sustain it. It is tempting to try.

I have mine in a pot going on 6 years now .. Doesn't seem to mind a lack of humidity and it overwinters in the greenhouse - it's bloom time is in late winter for me .. I have the Raspberry Ice.

Oh, how pretty! I never thought of growing them in a pot! Do you have any problem with pests overwintering it?

I've never seen any bugs on it ever! I wasn't aware that they were susceptible to bugs.

Don't know that they are! It's just that everything I try to overwinter ends up with bugs on it.

Wow, variegated bougainvillea. Wow!

I'm rooting some cuttings so they will probably be available in late July or early August if all goes well.

Do you grow them in full sun or can they go part shade? My garden gets more shade than sun, and lots of heat during summer.

I've only seen them in full sun. and little water, they grow along the retaining walls along the freeways.

Aww..little water I can do gladly..but the sun factor..I just do not have lots of it
My current flowering plants that loves the sun, are a bit pitiful to view..they try, sporadic here and there..

The Raspberry Ice does well in bright shade or full sun.

If you give it more water than usual, it will grow well in dry climates. It is all over the Palm Springs area and that is a desert. We had a lot of it on a hillside behind the house in Cathedral City, on a drip system, and it flourished. Most of them do need full sun though and heat. I have the humidity here, and have several in pots on an upper terrace. They fall over the side and I have to cut them back constantly but they are pretty. Mine have very little dirt left in the pots, I suppose I should report them at some point but they seem happy.

Thanks Jonna. Maybe I will try one, if I get to see them again this coming weekend. Sometimes I push the definition of drought tolerance too much

Well, I could "report" them to the pot bound police or maybe I should just "repot" them.

I think they are drought resistant as well, they really didn't need that much water in the desert. I'm trying to remember but I think they were on a 2x a week drip for maybe an hour and that was in the summer when the temps were over 100°f daily.

OH NO! Not the Pot Bound Police!