Growing Bougainvillea Indoors: Is it a Good Idea?

June 30, 2017

Can Bougainvillea be grown inside your house? Yes. Do I recommend doing this? Well, maybe.

June 1, 2017

I purchased two beautiful pink bougainvillea plants from Lowes in the spring. They grew like crazy over the summer in pots on my porch. They were so pretty!

In November, when I brought all of the non-hardy tropical plants inside, I did not bring these in. I was tired of the dealing with them! The thorns are massive (up to 2 inches) and I had been stabbed all summer trying the keep the vines somewhat confined to the porch columns.

Well about the middle of December, after several freezes on them, they were still blooming. I could not stand to leave them out any longer. So, I brought them inside.

At first, I loved them inside. They were placed in a south window to get sun. Most the leaves fell off from the move, but the brachts and flowers stayed on. Within three weeks, they almost completely covered the windows. By the end of January, after several trimmings, they were covering the windows again. They grew and bloomed like crazy without any special care. I watered them two to three times a week and cleaned up all the mess from the blooms weekly.

I have to admit that I loved looking at the snow covered yard through a window of bright pink vines.

The First week of February was my breaking point! The vines were strangling my mango tree, bird of paradise, and anything else they could reach. It was time for them to go!

Armed with long sleeves, gloves, and clippers, the fight was on! The poor mango tree was mangled a little from removing the vines, but everything went pretty smoothly.

I think all the other plants were glad to see them gone! They had actually stared to lean away from the window because they were getting more light from the ceiling fixture.

So, should you grow bougainvillea inside? If you don’t mind these things:

1. A constant mess from the old leaves and flowers falling off. There will be a lot!

2. The soil does dry out quickly and require frequent watering, even in the winter.

3. The vines have a ton of long thorns! They will need to be placed so as not to cause injury to passersby.

4. You may need to prune them routinely.

I have read so many stories about people having trouble getting their plants to grow and flower. I found them to be aggressive and easy to grow inside and out in my zone 7b – 8a. I still think they are extremely beautiful plants, but I’m not sure if I even want them outside anymore. The pots are stilling on my porch now and still have leaves and look great. I might put them in the ground and see how they overwinter outside next year. Maybe…

  Happy Gardening!