Bougainvillea Bonsai

Bougainvillea — bugambilia — is the Southern California flowering bonsai. It builds gnarled, characterful trunks unusually fast, and the papery bracts come in magenta, red, orange, and white. A tree that looks a hundred years old and blooms like a bush.

Care at a glance: All the sun you can give it. Slightly dry is better than slightly wet — bougainvillea flowers harder under mild water stress, and overwatering gives you a green plant with no color. Feed through the growing season, prune after each flush of bloom. Watch for thorns.

Choose your stage:

• Starter — untrained, in a nursery can. Your blank canvas: you choose the front, the style, and the first cut. The most forgiving option to keep alive.
• Wired — shaping wire already on the trunk and main branches with the movement set. Carry on the work from here.
• Potted — planted in a bonsai pot in free-draining bonsai soil, ready to display. Shallow pots dry fast, so plan on daily water in summer.

No two are alike, so the tree you take home will differ slightly from the photo. Bract color and bloom timing vary by plant and season. Available for local pickup at our shop.