Bogie in Bloom

My Bouganvillea "Pink Pixie" is in bloom.  This seems to be the best variety for my area, zone 5.

Photo by William Valavanis

That looks really nice!

I picked up a bougie earlier this year from the junk tray at Lodder bonsai spring sale. It survived great, but the branches do not seem to thicken up. New growth is over 60cm/2ft, but thinner as a pencil. Do you have any tricks that speed it up?

How do you get it to flower on short branches?

Nice bougie you got there! But I dont think its a pink pixie. They leaves should be more compact and the bloom its more pink, your are more purple...

Anyways, congrats!

It is not Pink Pixie, the bloom color is wrong, the leaves are wrong and the bloom placement on the stems is wrong.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:It is not Pink Pixie, the bloom color is wrong, the leaves are wrong and the bloom placement on the stems is wrong.

Ok. It was sold to me as a "Pink Pixie."

I think that it could be a Bougainvillea glabra.

ortizdhs wrote:I think that it could be a Bougainvillea glabra.

I still think it's a pixie. Most of the leaves are from the winter which accounts for their odd shape. This is the most colorful the blooms have ever been and due to my climate the bunching of the flowers is probably not normal. Other than that you may be right.

leatherback wrote:That looks really nice!

I picked up a bougie earlier this year from the junk tray at Lodder bonsai spring sale. It survived great, but the branches do not seem to thicken up. New growth is over 60cm/2ft, but thinner as a pencil. Do you have any tricks that speed it up?

How do you get it to flower on short branches?

Living in the agriculture zone I live in raising Bogies is a crap shoot. It's a vine by nature so trimming new growth is essential... and time. As far as speeding it up, move to a tropical zone.

I have a number of Bogies of different colors and habit, it is NOT a Pink Pixie. Later today I will photograph a Pink Pixie.

This my Pink Pixie 08/16/2013



Notice how the flowers cluster.



These are some less mature flowers coming out, notice how close to the stem they are.

I actually agree with Billy, I have a pink pixie and it looks just like his. I'm not saying the bougie in be original post isn't but the leaves do looks quite different.

The original photo is labeled as "Photo by William Valvanis." Did Bill Valvanis sell this as Pink Pixie?

As to getting thicker branches in cooler parts of the world, you do the same thinks we do except not as quickly.

1. Time

2. Larger pot, but don't let it stay wet.

3. Let branches grow long, trim back, let grow again.

4. Bougainvillea will bloom if

a. pruned, it only blooms on new growth.

b. kept it on the dry side.

c. Use a bloom buster fertilizer with a high middle number.

5. remember that usually blooming/flowers and developing branch structure DO NOT go together.

Twisted Trees wrote:My Bouganvillea "Pink Pixie" is in bloom.

Beautiful.  

I can't really grow this species here (no greenhouse), lucky you

I don't like the shape of the pot that much - too "square for me although one can have a different vision of course, but I find the colours are perfect.

Hi Billy,

thx for that info. Hope it is OK to add my tree here, with so many boegie fans on the thread..

My boegie was only very little when I bought it at Lodder Bonsai late April this year:


Now it looks like this; Should I let the branches grow much longer than this to get a start of thickening? (Any idea which species it might be?

Bougainvillea glabra.

See my post above