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Bougainvillea 'La Jolla' - An evergreen shrub that can reach to 4-5 feet tall by as wide with dark green foliage and large red bracts surrounding the small white flowers - bracts and flowers are often on this plant from spring late into the fall and sometimes through a mild winter.
Plant in full sun where it requires very little irrigation along the coast once established. Hardy to about 20-25 degrees F. It is noted as having brighter red bracts than the other red shrub cultivars 'Temple Fire' (AKA 'Helen Johnson') or 'Crimson Jewel'.
The name for the genus honors the French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811). Bougainville first visited South American in 1764 on a voyage to settle the Falkland Islands and in 1766 he left on a journey to become the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe. On this trip he was accompanied by the botanist Philibert Commerson (AKA Commerçon), who reportedly named the plant they found 'Bougainvillea' but it was not officially described until 1789 by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. Jussieu actually misspelled the name as Buginvillea, and this name was not corrected until the 20th century.. Further intrigue regarding this plant's discovery is that it may have actually been discovered by Philibert Commerson's assistant (and possibly his lover) Jeanne Baré, who he had snuck onboard, disguising her as a man. We have grown this plant in our nursery since 1982.
The information about Bougainvillea 'La Jolla' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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