Normally, people ask, “How’s the weather?” to use those few seconds to come up with something better to say.  But for those of us in the horticulture biz, or those who just like to grow, it means everything.  For me, it means the difference between taking fifty orders or five.  For gardeners, inclement weather could mean the difference between picking sweet peppers from their garden for a tasty salad or tossing them straight into the compost bin.

This month has seen its share of extreme weather with scorching heat, torrential downpours, thunderstorms, and flood watches.  Every summer, right around this time, I get a lot of email from gardeners who are worried about how their bougainvillea will be affected from all this rain.  If it’s a very young plant – say, from their own cutting – I tell them to bring it under greenhouse or cover if you know a big rainstorm is coming.  Gardeners who purchase their plants from a local garden center are likely to get a plant that is at least 5 months old and fully rooted.  As long as bougainvillea are not sitting in standing water, they should be fine.  In fact, they can be more than fine, they can be great!  Summertime in Florida is a great time to plant bougainvillea.  The intense heat paired with steady afternoon rain is wonderful for establishing new bougainvillea plantings.

Bougainvillea grow much faster in the summer, so a 2 gallon bougainvillea planted in the Summer would be the equivalent of a 7 gallon by Summer’s end.  Try that in the Fall, and you’d have to wait until after Winter to get some good growth happening!  For those looking to finally cover that unsightly fence, or put that pergola to use, this crazy weather couldn’t be better for planting bougainvillea.