thanks,

I live in Houston (zone 9?) unfortunatly the south side of my house is
my neibors backyard. i will most definatly try the mulch.

- kirby

Jim Lewis wrote:
On 11 Dec 2004 at 2:17, Kirby Johnson wrote:


i live in texas, a few weeks ago when it started to get cooler i brought
both my Bougainvillea (a pixie and a larger variety) closer to the house
in my atrium. but now they are not doing good. they lost alot of leaves.
(i think my cats had a lot to do with that). i put them back in the
yard, but i know once leaves drop its not good. any advice to save my
trees? one was a gift and i would ahte to loose it.



Bougainvillea are not evergreen. In areas where it gets a bit
cold (zone 8 or so) they will lose all their leaves almost
overnight once temperatures hit the upper 30s. They should do
OK located near a south wall of a building (especially a heated
building) unless temperatures get to the mid 20s, but to be safe
you could pile mulch up around and just over the pots.

You don't say where you are in texas, but if you live in an area
that is colder then zone 8, you probably need to bring them
inside or into a greenhouse or cold frame for the winter.

But in any event, barring cat damage, losing leaves in the fall
is OK.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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