It grows everywhere. On the front, on the side and even over top of anything it can latch on to. The bougainvillea rules the roost in warm climates with its dazzling colours and statement of good cheer. How can you not feel happy when confronted with this wonder of nature? Especially if you’re Canadian whose winters are basically flowerless and colourless.
I love bright colours, I even wear them. And I have been known to overdo colour when decorating. But since moving to Portugal, my need for colour has lessened. Living under almost constant deep blue skies, set above bright orange terra cotta roof tops, one hardly needs more colour.Colourful plants can be too much. An overstatement, nature out of control.
But don’t get me wrong, I love the bougainvillea. Even the pink one on our patio. The thing about nature in urban settings is it shows best when controlled and framed. All structures need to have a sense of proportion in order to fit in, to comfortably belong. Hopefully my pics will better explain what I mean. Above is bougainvillea gone mad, followed by it being an accent rather than the main show. Beautiful, but not in your face. Happy to share the stage with other stuff. Now if only we could get humans to do that!
