I'll add my voice to the chorus. I've had success rooting them from spring through early summer and like the others mentioned, hard wood seems to work best. I actually like hard, twiggy growth that's very skinny for rooting. My success rate has never been high, probably between 25 and 33% or so, but that's been enough. Mine rooted in water, potting soil, and perlite. Let us know if your friend gives it a try and how it works out. Take care, Grant

It's really tough to kill a bougainvilla! They just get more branches when they are pruned. How do I know this? I had one fighting with my grapevines, and the more I pruned, the more determined it was. Finally, I got out the round up, and watched it die. My grapevines are more important to me, and there are plenty of bougies in other parts of our yard. It's also hard to kill a grapevine! They seem to be alike. In trying to fix some training mistakes, I pruned a vine down to 6". I watched it daily, then, one day, it popped out some fuzzy buds, and now has new strong canes growing.

Why not take propagate it? Bougainvillea isn't the easiest plant to root, but if you take several cuttings, at least a few should survive. I've had better percentage success with hardwood cuttings, but only with cool (50-70 degrees) conditions. I usually have a 40-60% success rate with softwood cuttings. Ryan

Not sure I know what you mean by describing it as very dry. What is dry?--the leaves?, the stems? the soil? Do not OVER water it at this point. It sounds like transplant shock. Did you recently transplant? I would generally discourage transplanting in the summer--but leave it alone at this point. It should recuperate though. Good luck!--PS., Do not feed it.