It should come back.

Mine froze to the ground last winter and they both came back. It took some time, but once they started growing they came back strong.

John

Oh yes, they do. I have 3 in pots and one in the ground. I was ready to throw them out when I saw tiny leaves last week now they look all vigorous and ready to come back, same thing happened last year. If you go down to the roots, chances you will find them green. Just be patient

Mine always seem to come back each year, It just takes them a while before poking their noses out.
(just about the time you give up on them.... lil' green shoots appear)

Lou

Mine has always come back until this year. I think that last year's freeze's and this year's finally did it in. I cut away all the thorny sticks, and just about the time I start to run over it with the lawn mower, there are the little green shoots! Lou's right!

I have 11 different kinds. They are all in pots because they would prob all freeze to the ground here. I keep them in the greenhouse over winter. Last year, one of the pots got too cold (got pushed up against a the back wall of the gh) and it froze all the way back. It didn't come back last summer but in late November I was putting everything back into the greenhouse I saw a tiny peice of green in that pot so put it in. This spring it is about 9 inches tall so is coming back!

The three I planted two years ago froze to the ground both winters. Will they ever get large if they have to start over every spring???
Marcia

Mine got big again after last winter's freeze but hardly bloomed at all.

Shoot. I misspelled it. For the benefit of future searches, the plant is Bougainvillea.

I stand corrected...it's back, lol.

Hi C, they will come back here, even in north Florida ;-)

Tom

Just a quick note since it may not be obvious... but my dwarfs (Helen Johnson) got hit by the one frost we had this year here in St. Pete. I had an inclination to cut everything down the the ground since it seemed like everything above ground was dead. Something told me not to though and it was good that I listened. Once it warmed up they starting sprouting new leaves from the parts that I thought were dead.

They are just in dormancy, folks! Be patient! My has leafed out just fine. Yours will be out soon.

I live in Northern California, in the valley. And even though it is 70+ right now and we are experiencing an historical drought, a couple of weeks ago it froze at night. I have 3 Bougainvillea that didnt handle it well, mainly because there was a cold wind and no protection. I have since moved them to my patio where they are now protected from any wind and enjoy sun throughout the day. Or forcast is mid 40's at night and high 60's for the next 10 days. As you can see all the foliage has died. I am in the process of plucking it all off. I also water it like a houseplant for now...
So, do you think they will recover?. Should I bring them inside or do you think the air will be too dry? Should I cut the plants down?

Many thanks!

Mark H.
Sacramento, CA

Mark, just put it somewhere, out of sight, keep it watered and it will come back - don't cut on it. When the new leaves emerge, the old leaves will fall off - just leave it alone for now!

While they are dormant, it would be a good time to pot them into a bigger size or plant them in the ground. Don't disturb the roots or soil - just place them in a much bigger pot, water it and WAIT!

Summer '09 I put one in the ground, just north of the border, always gone dormant and then been back so far, never covered or anything. The record breaking temps this winter could put an end to it, IDK. Have you had temps in the teens there? If not, I would be pretty confident it'll be back.

I have one that someone from north Tampa gave me as a big bare root plant, I think it was after the 1987 deep freeze? I think that was the year. It is planted next to a slash pine of about the same age. It has been frozen back numerous times but always comes back. Maybe without the freeze pruning it would have pulled down the pine by now. As it is they are both huge and coexist very well. It is blooming now but not profusely. Sometimes the pine is full of red flowers. Too bad it is to the southeast. The neighbors get a much better view.

Hi I am having the same problem. I purchased a beautiful red full bush. This winter everything went away and it has not come back. I have a picture of it. Can anyone tell me if this will come back or does it look as dead as it looks to me.

As much as I love it, hate the thick thorns on older canes. Can get bad infections if poked by a vein no matter how careful we are.

I left a Barbara Karst out in a 5 gallon pot out in the yard this winter in NE FL. It froze all the way back. It is coming back from the roots and is about 2 ft tall now. BK is a really tough customer though. I love bougainvillea. Here are two babies I recently got that are variegated (orange and hot pink). I also have a huge variegated one with light baby pink flowers.

Blessed and SJN,

Those are gorgeous plants! I love them, too.

Driving through some St. Augustine neighborhoods yesterday (outside of the Historic District), I saw a huge, true red one. You don't see that very often. It was really beautiful. Being an hour south of us and so close to the water, St. Augustine rarely gets a hard freeze. I wish I had taken a photo.

Carol in Jacksonville

Sweet! The reddest ones I have are San Diego Red and one labeled as Temple Fire but I think may have been mislabeled. That one starts out brick/ burgundy red and fades to red. The SDR starts out bright red but fades to hot pink. I think I have about 15 diff varieties now.

Here is my reddest one, the mislabeled Temple Fire, when it was small. It is bigger now but isn't blooming right now but should soon. The red is more maroon in person. My camera has trouble with picking up the true hues of reds.