bougainvillea

I have become obsessed with tropical plants and have had a lot of luck growing things that are not supposed to survive in the ground in this zone. I love the beautiful colors of Bougainvillea but know they could never survive here in the ground. Could I plant them in pots on my deck during the summer and then winter them over under my house. I tried it with Mandevilla and Fushia this year and it worked great. I just cut them back, stuck them under the house , watered them twice and they both have new growth all over them. If anyone has had success with this please let me know. I am going to St. Simons island next month and plan to shop for tropicals. Thanks Mick

I grow all my bougies in pots and they do just fine
I bring them in for the winter

Do you put them in a sunny place or a dark place and how often do you water them? I bought one several years ago and brought it in for the winter and treated it as a house plant, watered about once a week. It did well until Feb. and then it croaked. Mick

down here in the desert southwest, we grow them in full sun. regular water and fertilizer. they always do well.

Mick--it's possible you may have overwatered them, they tend to like it on the drier side. In the sun in AZ in the summertime where biggered is you may need to water them regularly, but in the house during the winter they may not need to be watered once a week. I would make sure you stick your finger down a few inches in the soil and see if it's still wet before you water them--often the top layer of soil can look dry, but if you go down an inch or two it's still plenty moist.

I keep all mine on the real dry side over the winter
they loose most of their leaves and look pretty dead...but come back strong