Not just another flower

My original title was Another Flower. Then I realized that it is not just another flower! 


The ubiquitous bougainvillea, is really found everywhere, not only in the tropics but also in subtropical climates. It has variety of colors which really fascinates everybody. There are also plant characteristics which make it either as upright in pots, climbing in trellises or fences and hanging in ledges and verandas. I have also posted  some of the varieties in old posts. Whenever i see one in the vicinity, i never fail to take some photos, no matter how common it has become.

 This is mother's forgotten plant at the corner. But it is very tolerant of our extremely hot dry season. It may dry some branches but coming rainy season, branches will come up again. The color above is maybe the commonest of the colors, but it is nonetheless lovely!

 This is a variegated variety at the side of my aunt's house. The leaves are attractive being variegated but the flowers are beautiful too. It needs some trimming already, but it has already gained compact growth with the semblance of a roof. A chair or two can already be put under it. You will notice that water sprouts above, are purely green in color, unlike the old variegated ones.

This variety is not very prolific in flowering, maybe because flowers are not its most attractive trait. But a closer look shows us the also varied colors of the flowers. There are pinks, pink with whites, greenish whites and pure whites! 


Knowledge of the branch characteristics to pick for propagation will give us the best characteristics we want. We can even separate these characteristics in our future materials. But that is negating the beautiful characteristics of this plant. Chimera is another term for variegation. If we want to produce the dominant characters as in red flowers and green leaves, then the purely green leaves of the water sprouts will do. Getting the mostly red colored flowering stems will produce dominantly red with white variegation in flowers and mainly variegated leaves, plus occasionally pure green. However, getting the stems with purely white flowers will give us mostly white but with occasional red and variegated flowers. Of course leaves are also variegated with slightly occasional green.