Expert: Long Island Gardener - 1/7/2008

Question
I live in Florida and have a fairly new bougainvilla plant that I planted late Spring (May '07).  It was doing very well and growing like a weed until a recent freeze.  Unfortunately, I was not home the night of the freeze and couldn't cover the plant.  Now the leaves are black and I'm afraid that I've lost my beautiful plant.  Can a bougainvilla recover from a hard freeze?  The temperatures dropped into the upper 20's for one night and now we are expecting to be in the mid-70's going forward (typical Florida weather).  The actual plant still looks strong, the stems are thick and look like they could bounce back.  What should I do at this point?  Should I cut back the stems and prune away all the dead leaves?  Please help!  I was so proud of how nice my plant was looking and now I am very disappointed that I didn't cover it for the freeze.

Answer
Bougainvilleas are not Annuals, so I would recommend you get a second opinion over in the houseplants department.

But I feel your pain, Belinda, so let me give you my advice right now on this.

These plants are highly sensitive to cold or frost, as you have unfortunately learned.  It is possible however that the brush with frozen air simply destroyed the existing leaves, and that the experience might act as a kind of severe pruning that stimulates growth at some of the axils.

Keep the plant in balmy, bright conditions -- not too hot, not too cold, not too Sunny (a little protection is best).  Don't overwater or you'll kill the roots, but keep the plant from drying out.  And watch to see what happens.

One last thing.

Belinda, there is not a gardener alive who has not killed, and killed, and killed their plants, over and over, in the search for horticultural nirvana.  We learn from our mistakes.  Look at this as a learning experience.  You can buy another plant.  But you can't buy this experience.  I get questions like this all the time.  And when all is said and done, you know SO MUCH more than you knew when things were going smoothly, without problems.

Solving problems -- this is how we become better gardeners.  There is no easy way to do it.  This really, really is going to improve your understanding of this plant.  Be glad you made this mistake.

Because someday, someone you know is going to do exactly the same thing.  Maybe with the same plant.  Because you've been there, and done that, you'll have ANSWERS you didn't have just a few days ago.  As well as ways to make a Bougainvillea thrive.  Welcome to the club, and let me know how it goes.