Hi there. I've had a rather nice bougainvillea with lots of purple
flowers on my balcony with a north/west view for the last year and
it's been very happy. I live in Los Angeles.

Just a month ago, it started dropping lots of flowers, but still
looked healthy - the nursery said that is ok. BUT just a week ago, it
started dropping many dry flowers and even a few leaves, and now the
bougainvillea doesn't look very healthy anymore. The flowers stilllook
ok, but there are a lot of empty branches. the branches do still seem
healthy for the most part, but everything is falling off! I did miss a
couple weeks between waterings (the last was a drenching), but from
what I understand these guys are very hearty and don't mind being a
little underwatered. I'm just wondering if he'll be ok! I don't want
to have to replace if I don't have to. Should I keep it moist most of
the time or drench/dry/drench/dry?

Thanks for helping me save my bougainvillea.

- JayDee