Bambino™ Bougainvilleas
Bambino™ Baby Alyssa, Baby Victoria, Baby Lauren

Raymond Evison Clematis

Raymond is the top English breeder/Clematis expert...maybe in the world.

These great Clematis bloom over and over again,
They don't get too tall, can stay in a large pot and are hybridized so that most of them bloom almost all summer into fall for some of them. They really do work in our Southern California Gardens. The ones that I have coming are 2nd year plants so they will be bigger and ready earlier than this years crop.

Here are the pictures to let you know what they look like. This is Arctic Queen. While not actually one of the Royal Horticulture Society's four this is by far one of the prettiest. I have it in a large pot on my front landing and it blooms all summer long. The seed head after the flower dies is almost gold. My favorite!

Rosemoor is probably the deepest claret wine color you could imagine. Very good bloomer with lots of flowers

Wisley is named after that famous horticultural center in England.

Harlow Car is one of the Clematis that blooms the longest. Ours was still blooming in September

Because these Clematis stay under ten feet you can train them on a trellis, let them decorate a blank wall or go up a tree.
They are also easy to cut back in winter. Raymond says, 'Just cut them back where every you want. I did mine to about 2 feet this year. I have an old very small dead tree trunk that it climbs up. I'll be bringing it over to the nursery, but you can't buy mine. I'll have enough for you if you don't wait for ever.

The Bambino Bougainvilleas. Perfect for pots and patios

Bambino Sophia is a gorgeous brick orange. Low growing

™ Introducing a brand new group of smaller better behaved bougainvilleas. The Bambino's™ come to us from an Australian breeder who has spent years and years breeding and selecting to produce this more dwarf Bambino. the name Bambino is especially fitting, meaning 'little baby' in Spanish. the varietal names that the Aussie's use don't fit in the our country.
Hines Nursery has chosen new names for varieties. There will be even more new and exciting varieties coming along through the years.

The Problem: Big huge Bougainvilleas that have big thorns and are costly to prune and control.

The solution: Bambino™ Bougainvilleas. Smaller growing and better behaved with softer thorns. Bambinos™ are ideal container color.

Bambino's are very drought tolerant. Bambino's bloom better in a container because they bloom best on less water and fertilizer.
By the way, you do know that when we are talking about blooms we are really including the colorful bracts in that wood 'bloom'. The actual flower is not much to look at.

Let's take a look at the three first Baby's in this group.
This is Baby Victoria
She has lovely variegated foliage with tinges of red on the tips. The green and white in the leaves makes a great color contrast to the red bracts. The flower is our traditional bougainvillea red.

Next we have Baby Lauren. Lovely lavender Lauren. Traditional green foliage and lavender bracts. She looks to be a little more vigorous in growth than either Alyssa or Victoria.

Baby Alyssa is all white with lovely green and white foliage. I have seen her growing in the ground at Hines Horticulture in Irvine where she was nicely hugging the ground by a small boulder.

To the left you see Baby Lauren paired in the same pot with Baby Alyssa

There are more but I don't have time to put the pictures up right now.

Bambino Bougainvillea Care
Planting a Bambino. You can keep your Bambino happily in a medium size container since it is hybridized to stay smaller and better behaved. You may also plant it into the ground.

Bougainvillea roots do not like to be disturbed or broken. One safe way to transplant is to dig a extra wide planting hole. cut the bottom off of the can [throw it away or try it as a Frisbee, won't work but you can try]. Make a slit all the way down. on opposite sides of the can. Fill up the hole with soil. After it is all planted you can slide the sides of the can up and out.
Caring for your Bambino. Water well when you plant it. Water and feed in spring and summer when you want growth. Don't feed in colder winter months.
Stop feeding and slow down on the water when you want flower production. This is one plant that will be happy with the higher middle number on the fertilizer label. They don't want much nitrogen. Always trim back any wild growth that shoots up.
Bambino's can freeze. If you live in colder areas either keep them in containers and move into protected areas during winter or cover with Frost Protection cloth during cold snaps [Get it from Weidners in November or December]. Once your plant is well established it will generally re-grow after a frost. Messy bracts falling off bother you. Take your choice, the bracts can fall off or you can buy double flowered varieties. Then the messy bracts stay on the plant and look ugly.