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Bougainvillea
बोगनवेलिया (boganvelia)
A thorny climber that covers walls, roundabouts and roadside hedges in sheets of magenta, orange or white. The colour is in papery bracts, not petals.
👀 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.
Where to see it
Delhi
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.
Garden of Five Senses · Lodhi Garden · Sunder Nursery
Ajmer
Introduced through colonial-era gardens from South America, it survives Rajasthan's heat on almost no water, which is why municipal planting along the Ajmer lakefront leans on it so heavily.
Ana Sagar Lake · Daulat Bagh (Subhash Udyan)
Chandigarh
Bougainvillea is the plant that gives Chandigarh's roundabouts and sector walls their colour, planted as part of the city's original landscaping scheme. It is brightest in the dry months, when the plant is under stress.
Leisure Valley · The Rose Garden
Dehradun
Not native to India, but so thoroughly adopted into Indian landscaping that it has become part of the look of planned cities and hill stations.
Hyderabad
Not native to India, but so thoroughly adopted into Indian landscaping that it has become part of the look of planned cities and hill stations.
Lumbini Park and the Boat to the Buddha · Hyderabad Botanical Garden (Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy) · The Bonsai Garden at Ramoji Film City
Jaipur
Jaipur was painted terracotta pink in 1876 for the visit of the Prince of Wales, and the magenta of bougainvillea against that wash has been the city's visual signature ever since.
Central Park · Sisodiya Rani Bagh · Kanak Vrindavan Garden
Mussoorie
Not native to India, but so thoroughly adopted into Indian landscaping that it defines the look of hill-station walls.
Company Garden (Atal Udyan)