Palermo plants: Oh-La-La bougainvilleas

This site plans to highlight some of the plants on the city's approved landscaping plan for Palermo Palm Springs and provide background on them. See our Feb. 23 posting for the plants on the list. The first plant we looked at was the "agave desmettiana" that is now flowering our the development. See the Feb. 24 posting for information on that plant. Today the focus is on the "bougainvillea oh la la" plant. The top picture is of a plant flowering at Palermo. The lower picture is from the Palermo landscaping plan. The plants were originally in 5-gallon buckets. Here's how one plant guide describes it: "This vivid magenta-red dwarf bougainvillea is among the best for a groundcover or container color in hot, dry climates. It is descended from giant vines of South America and their many hybrids, crossed to develop this small shrubby form, and others, tame enough for gardens with limited space or entirely new applications such as slope stabilization. Oh-La-La bears dense color due not to its flowers but to modified leaves known as bracts. They are a signal that draws pollinators to the small true flowers hidden among them. The flowers are tubular blooms visited by hummingbirds and long-tongued insects, a bonus in the eyes of some gardeners. Give it full sun and average, well-drained to dry soil. Like most bougainvilleas, it blooms far more densely when conditions are dry. If over-watered, even in the desert, it will produce too much foliage and insufficient color. It has a large, fibrous root system that resents disturbance, so when planting a nursery purchase, keep the rootball intact. Dwarf bougainvilleas may be allowed to grow naturally or can be sheared periodically to produce a more dense, compact character. Use it as a single specimen in the ground or a pot, in small groups, or massed with other dwarf varieties for a truly outstanding display of color." Miss Penny Lane says: Oh La La, is right.