View of our house (with kids 'jungle gym' in the foreground !) taken from side of garden closest to Kilimanjaro
Bougainvillea is a flowering plant which grows here in Africa abundantly (although it is native to South America). From lush manicured gardens to dusty roadside shops, you will find bougainvillea growing almost everywhere in Tanzania, in a variety of colours (there up to 18 different species of the plant) - different shades of pink, white, cream and apricot.
Bougainvillea lines the pathway leading to the front entrance of our house
The thorny, woody vines of the plant grow anything from 1 metre to 12 metres in height. The ones we have here in Tanzania seem to be evergreen, and almost always in flower (although more so at certain times of the year than others).
The beautiful cerise coloured blooms cascade over the veranda roof ..... (the cats sometimes like to sleep underneath the bougainvillea up here !)Bougainvillea is used here to decorate vehicles used to transport people to weddings – or funerals ! I often use it to decorate platters of food, or scatter on the dining table as part of the table decorations when we have a big lunch party.
A close up of the lovely bloomsI was walking around our garden on Sunday – which is quite ‘bland’ and colourless now during our Winter months – and the bougainvillea growing on and around our house really stood out amongst all the yellow shades of Winter …. isn’t it beautiful ?
The archway leading to our house is covered in Bougainvillea !
I know that Bougainvillea grows all over the world - but, does it grow in your country and if so, what colours do you have ?
