Bougainvillea

Than This Bougainvillea spectabilis – the Paper Flower in Mallorca

Just like recently in Morocco, I find myself standing before an enormous bougainvillea again. Here in Mallorca they're even further along with their blooming at this time of year – I'm not sure exactly why. But they are.

"Drillingsblume" (paper flower) is what it's called in German. Bougainvillea spectabilis – and when it blooms: the most violet of violets. It was named after the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville, under whose commission it was discovered on a Brazilian voyage in the 18th century.

What's Actually Blooming

Those small yellow or cream-white dots in the purple – that's the actual flower. The spectacular violet all around? Just bracts. A kind of lure for insects. They're practically calling out: "Hello, I want to be pollinated!"

An interesting contrast, by the way, to the star jasmine I recently wrote about. While that one holds back and works through fragrance, the bougainvillea does the opposite: pure, shameless color.

Year-Round Spectacle

The bougainvillea blooms here in Mallorca almost continuously – sometimes more, sometimes less. But it blooms. And now, throughout the entire summer, it really takes off. Explosion!

In our projects I like to use it as a counterpoint. When everything else is subtle and restrained, it's allowed to be the opposite: loud, proud, unmissable. Sometimes a place needs exactly that – a moment that says: "There's life here."

Anyone who has ever seen a mature bougainvillea in full bloom understands what I mean. It takes the space it wants – and that's exactly as it should be.