A splash of colour

The bougainvillea is forever

The hot Indian summer is not without its visual delights. As the landscape turns a dull khaki, laburnums and gulmohars light up the view. However, by the middle of May, it becomes a challenge to keep the garden colourful, because like all fair weather friends, most annuals take their leave. Only flowering plant remains steadfast: the bougainvillea. It continues to fill space with a riot of colour — pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white and yellow.

The plant, which derives its name from a French admiral, Antoine de bougainvillea — who discovered it in Brazil in 1768 — is particularly suited for warm Indian conditions. It is a gardener’s delight because, like the wild card in rummy, it can be used to fill any gap in the garden. It also comes as a double flower variety and even with variegated leaves!

With some effort one can turn a bougainvillea sapling into a bush, a hedge, a potted plant or even a creeper hanging down or climbing up. In Gujarat’s countryside, people let its vine climb upon large trees like neems and peepals. This never fails to add a touch of the unexpected to the scene.

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The plant needs little water or care and can survive in the most trying conditions. Way back in 1989 we lived in a small town in a coastal district of Gujarat. The old house that was our residence had a large unpaved courtyard. From one corner of it grew a sturdy vine of bougainvillea, which had spread its canopy of magenta flowers over the sloping tiled roof of the verandah in front of our bedroom. It absolutely transformed the place.

That was the house in which our elder daughter spent the first year of her life. Last December, we revisited it to show it to her. The house had been abandoned and was in a sorry state. The plaster had come off the walls, the flooring had cracked, and the broken tiles had left gaping holes in the roof. In the courtyard, there was no trace of the juhi and mogra we had planted.

The only thing that remained was the bougainvillea vine, with its brilliant canopy of magenta flowers!

sapna.sharma@expressindia.com

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