(Bougainvillea, Pink Pixie Bougainvillea)

This is a true miniature form of the huge tropical vines that are the star performers of tropical gardens. Not only is ‘Pink Pixie’ a better candidate for small, sun-drenched gardens than most bougainvilleas, it’s a popular bonsai and topiary specimen too. This is a dwarf form of the variety ‘Torch Glow,’ discovered by a California grower among a group of bougainvilleas imported from the Philippines. What makes this sun-loving dwarf so unusual is the short distance between nodes on its stems, with...

(Bougainvillea, Ms. Alice™ Bougainvillea)

This gorgeous dwarf white bougainvillea offers a shrub sized for smaller gardens but they are commonly massed in larger landscapes too. These woody plants have been bred from giant vines of South America to create more floriferous garden candidates. But this plant takes it even further and asks us to rethink how we use bougies in our landscaping.

This dwarf bears snow white flowers year around adding soft and exciting looks to the garden. The color is displayed on bracts, which are modified...

(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, Temple Fire Bougainvillea)

A fabulous dwarf bougainvillea, ‘Temple Fire’ shows flaming color in both its flower and its bronze leaf accents. This is a cultivar derived from Bougainvillea glabra, which was crossed with hybrids to create a rainbow of colors and dwarf forms for smaller gardens. It retains the intense, long-lasting color of its ancestors in spite of its short stature plants.

The brick red color blooms are bracts, leaves that have evolved to lure pollinators. The bracts are very long lasting and fade...

(Bougainvillea, Torch Glow Bougainvillea)

This bougainvillea, ‘Torch Glow,’ stands on its own amidst the many garden bougainvilleas due to its unique, upright, shrubby form. Bougainvilleas are technically lianas, tropical shrubs with reaching stems that grow into the treetops of their jungles of origin. Yet this selection was discovered in California among a group of seedlings imported from the Philippines. Ordinary plants have fast-growing stems with widely spaced leaves. The leaves of ‘Torch Glow’ are tightly packed together on their...

(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, Small-leaved Bougainvillea)

Small-leaved bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with short thorns and deeper green leaves. Colorful papery clusters of magenta to white bracts fill the stems from summer to autumn, however it can flush flowers across the year. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas and may be planted as an annual in hanging baskets or...

(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, White Bougainvillea)

Small-leaved bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with short thorns and deeper green leaves. Cultivar 'Alba' produces papery clusters of white bracts over the stems from summer to autumn, however it can flush flowers across the year. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas and may be planted as an annual in hanging baskets...

(Bougainvillea, Sanderiana Bougainvillea)

Small-leaved bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with short thorns and deeper green leaves. Colorful papery clusters of magenta to white bracts fill the stems from summer to autumn, however it can flush flowers across the year. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas and may be planted as an annual in hanging baskets or...

(Great Bougainvillea)

Showy bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, climber with curving thorns and soft, green leaves with hairy undersides. Stems are also hairy. Breathtaking and abundant colorful clusters of pink or purple bracts appear seasonally, triggered by a cold temperature regime or, most consistently, during the dry season. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Showy bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on...

(Great Bougainvillea, Lavender Queen Bougainvillea)

Showy bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, climber with curving thorns and soft, green leaves with hairy undersides. Stems are also hairy. 'Lavender Queen' produces colorful clusters of lavender bracts seasonally, triggered by a cold temperature regime or, most consistently, during the dry season. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Showy bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas,...

(Firecrackerbush, Scarlet Bouvardia, Scarlet trompetilla)

With glossy dark gray-green foliage, Firecrackerbush lives up to its moniker from summer to winter with clustered scarlet red flowers that look like elongated trumpets. A rather open-branched and free-formed evergreen shrub, it is native from the extreme southwestern United States into Mexico and Central America.

Its leaves are oval or lance-shaped, and dark-green with hints of gray-green. The tops of the leaves are glossy while the undersides are lightly hairy. At the tips of the branches, from...