Place Bougainville

Found some 4lb bags of organic worm castings on lunch break at Flamingo Road Nursery$7 I remember them seeming a lot pricier on-line so I picked some up. Tried to make a tea overnight but it didn't dissolve and made muddy heaps which I had to flush into the soil. Better to add to top soil and work and water in. Bought fish emulsion same trip, I thought I was buying seaweed but it was fish. Smells rather taint-like.. now this you can make a tea out of, a right stinky tea. Probably loved by all.

New growth on the rose. Trimmed down sternly after first flush.. it tried to send out a water sprout below graft, which I pinched off immediately, nothing allowed below graft. It gets 4 hours of sun more or less. I've sprinkled a little Bayer Feed and Protect and watered in, keeping a little water in saucer that can be wicked up.. coaxing roots down? It's in a 3 gal pot, I'd like to leave it there.

New growth.

Goings on about town..

5/7/2016
The soil in the large magenta bougainvillea seemed to have taken on a clay-like consistency. I trimmed main branches that will be used to splay the plant back on the trellis and then after some chipping away at the top soil in the pot slid the plant out onto a plastic drop cloth. Went around the root ball with small shovel knocking off about 1/2 of the root ball. Didn't find large "tap" roots that I have encountered when repotting other bougies; may hidden inside remaining root ball. Great pot for $140 from Flamingo Road Nursery. If you're in Broward county, probably the best for large ceramic pots.

Finally found a underliner that was a good fit and matched the dirty white tile somewhat enabling me to repot see above.

Weed blocker top of drainage holes
2" white granite
Weed block above granite
Mulch, just composting trimmings from garbage about 1"
Mixed 3 cubic foot yards of soil with 2 bags perlite and 2 7lb bags of worm castings
This was done in a large contractors trash bag, I could mix well and then poured 2 cans of water in to make some fun mud. My soil wouldn't compress much when watered later. Put this in bottom 1/3 of pot. Put in root ball. In another bag, mixed soil and perlite and filled in around ball.
Tied the thorny trollop tightly to the trellis.
Stuffed some sanchezia and burle marxe in for some base filler.
Watered in well.

Splayed bougie on month later..

2 months after repotting

The compulsory purchase at the nursery: one of my favorite bougainvillea-- the magenta pops with the variegated leaves.

Fabulous when in full flower.

Like a lavender candy

I don't think these are very floriferous, but the lavender ice bracts are refreshing.

My mother's lipstick (1960's)

Trying something new. Roses in containers, blown by ocean wind, underneath serious sun. The subtel fragrance and the gorgeous color of "Smoking Hot" captivated me. It's grafted onto Fortuniana roots. If it looks like this might be a successful effort, it would be beautiful throw them in a big pot with bougainvillea 

She's smoking hot!!