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Bougainvillea in Delhi: the city that names its varieties
Bougainvillea glabra
In Delhi bougainvillea flowers most heavily from February to June, and the colour is brightest in the hot, dry weeks when the plant is under stress. The easiest places to see it are Lodhi Garden, Sunder Nursery and the Garden of Five Senses. The city also has a quieter claim on the plant: the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here is the international registration authority for bougainvillea cultivars.
Delhi keeps the world register of bougainvillea names: since 1966 the Indian Agricultural Research Institute here has been the international registration authority for its cultivars, and its checklist runs to more than 300 varieties.
Where to see it
Garden of Five Senses
Lodhi Garden
Sunder Nursery
👀 How to recognise it
Three thin papery bracts around three tiny white tube flowers. Brightest when the plant is dry and stressed, which is why it peaks in the hot months.
When it flowers: the hotter, the brighter
Bougainvillea likes much of what a Delhi summer offers. It grows best in dry soil and full sun, needs little water once established and does poorly if overwatered, and its colour is strongest when the plant is dry and stressed. That is why the heaviest flowering in Delhi runs from February to June, into the weeks of 45 °C heatwaves in May and June.
For walking, February and March are the comfortable end of that window: the city is dry and cool, and the guide notes the Garden Tourism Festival at the Garden of Five Senses in February. If you come in May or June, go out early in the morning.
The magenta, orange or white you see is not the flower at all. The colour is in thin, papery bracts, usually three (sometimes six); the true flowers are the three tiny white tubes in the middle.
Three gardens to start with
Outside the gardens, bougainvillea covers walls, roundabouts and roadside hedges across the city; these are the places where it is easiest to stop and look.
Garden of Five Senses
Twenty acres near Saket laid out around what you can see, hear, touch and smell: spiral walkways over bare Aravalli rock, a Mughal-style water garden and sculptures among the planting. Garden of Five Senses.
Lodhi Garden
Old tombs and mosques in a central park, with bougainvillea among the planting. Early morning is the quiet hour. Lodhi Garden.
Sunder Nursery
A landscaped park with well-kept paths next to Humayun's Tomb; the two make an easy half day together. Sunder Nursery.
A South American plant with a Delhi register
Bougainvillea is native to South America. The first European to describe it was the botanist Philibert Commerçon, who sailed with the French admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville; the name honours the admiral. Many garden bougainvilleas today come from crosses between just three species, and there are over 300 named varieties.
Delhi has a role in naming them. The India Post information sheet for the 1985 bougainvillea stamps describes IARI in New Delhi as the international registration authority for bougainvillea cultivars, with a checklist of more than 300 of them.
Mind the thorns
The stems carry spiky thorns. For a close photograph of the bracts, look for a plant trained on a wall or a frame rather than pushing into a hedge. More on the plant is on bougainvillea, and the rest of the city's flowering calendar is on trees and flowers of Delhi.
❓ FAQ
When does bougainvillea flower in Delhi?
Most heavily from February to June. The colour is brightest in the hot, dry weeks.
Where can I see bougainvillea in Delhi?
In Lodhi Garden, Sunder Nursery and the Garden of Five Senses near Saket, and on walls, roundabouts and roadside hedges across the city.
Why does bougainvillea flower more in the heat?
It does best in dry soil and strong sun, and its colour is brightest when the plant is dry and stressed.
Is bougainvillea native to India?
No. It comes from South America and reached India through colonial-era gardens.