How Can I Tell If Bougainvillea Is Dead?
Although bougainvillea shrubs are sturdy plants that often withstand extensive abuse without showing signs of trauma, they do have a limit to the amount of stress they can tolerate and continue thriving. If you fear for your shrub, tell if your bougainvillea is dead by assessing the foliage of the plant. If you do not see green growth in the stems and leaves of the plant, it may be dead.
Check the bougainvillea for foliage growth above the ground. If you do not see vibrant leaves and green stems, the shrub may be dead.
Grasp a stem between your hands and bend it. If the stem breaks crisply with a snap, the bougainvillea may be dead. If the stem bends but does not immediately break, the plant may still be alive.
- Although bougainvillea shrubs are sturdy plants that often withstand extensive abuse without showing signs of trauma, they do have a limit to the amount of stress they can tolerate and continue thriving.
- If the stem breaks crisply with a snap, the bougainvillea may be dead.
Cut away the outer bark from a stem to look at the inside. If you see green inside the stem, the bougainvillea may still be alive. If the inside of the stem is drab and gray, the plant may be dead.
Cut back every stem that appears dead after you test the stems using steps two and three. Cut these stems back to approximately 2 inches above the soil level. Leave any stems intact that may not be dead.
Provide water for the bougainvillea plant after pruning it. Water to saturate the soil and then wait to water again until the soil is dry.
- Cut away the outer bark from a stem to look at the inside.
- If you see green inside the stem, the bougainvillea may still be alive.
Wait to see how the bougainvillea responds to the pruning. Often, a bougainvillea can appear dead but when you cut it back, it rejuvenates and begins growing again. Wait up to one month and if you do not see any new growth, you may conclude the bougainvillea is dead.
Bougainvillea Is Dead
Bougainvilleas (Bougainvillea spp. ), prized for their masses of colorful floral bracts, grow as evergreen shrubs or groundcovers in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. Bend a portion of a bougainvillea stem near its tip gently. If the stem section bends easily without breaking, it could indicate that that area of the stem is still living. Scrape a very small section of bark gently off of the bougainvillea using your fingernail and look for green tissue just under the outer bark layer. Cut bougainvillea stems that appear dead at the top but still green and living nearer the ground back into living tissue.
- Wait to see how the bougainvillea responds to the pruning.
- Wait up to one month and if you do not see any new growth, you may conclude the bougainvillea is dead.
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References
- Gardening Know How: How to Tell if a Plant is Dead
- University of Florida IFAS Extension: Bougainvillea Spp.
- Arizona State University: Bougainvillea Hybrids
- National Gardening Association: Bougainvillea Damaged by Frost
- The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: Dealing With Freeze Damaged Landscape Plants
Writer Bio
Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.
