| Bougainvillea, a strikingly beautiful plant seen in | | | | be seen on all these tours is the dramatic sight of |
| abundance in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, derived its | | | | Bougainvilleas near every subject of interest. |
| name from Louis Antoine de Bougainvillea, an admiral | | | | Another tour where Bougainvilleas can be seen at |
| in the French Navy that encountered these plants in | | | | every turn in the road is the Home tour, where |
| Brazil in 1768 and described their beauty to his fellow | | | | visitors are escorted through selected homes in |
| Europeans when he returned home. | | | | Vallarta's finest neighborhoods. The cobblestone |
| Bougainvilleas are rapid growing plants that produce | | | | roads, white and pastel colored villas with their red |
| white flowers year round in sunny warm climates and | | | | tile roofs, the incredible hillside views of the city and |
| Vallarta perfectly meets their requirements by | | | | Banderas Bay, and of course the magnificent tropical |
| providing approximately 320 sunny days per year | | | | foliage with Bougainvilleas around almost every home, |
| with an average annual temperature of 78°F. | | | | provide these tourists with a day full of unforgettable |
| Being deciduous, they do fine without much watering | | | | sights. |
| during the seven month dry season in Vallarta from | | | | Puerto Vallarta currently has seven world class golf |
| November through May, when there is virtually no | | | | courses with the construction of an eighth course |
| rain. As thorny vines, they seem content growing up, | | | | near completion. Three additional courses are on the |
| horizontal or even hanging down and can reach out | | | | drawing board and will probably be built during the |
| or up almost 40 feet. | | | | next five years. They are all magnificently manicured |
| It's almost impossible to go anywhere in Vallarta | | | | courses, some rolling throughout the foothills of the |
| without seeing bougainvilleas growing profusely. They | | | | Sierra Madres, others along the shore of Banderas |
| are everywhere along the roadside, can be spotted | | | | Bay or the Pacific Ocean. Aside from having |
| on the Sierra Madre hillsides, act as potted plants or | | | | absolutely perfect weather conditions for golf for |
| serve as ornamental shrubs around almost every | | | | eight months of the year, these courses have one |
| casita and villa, are all over the golf courses, and are | | | | other thing in common; they are all beautifully |
| around all public areas of interest. Bougainvilleas can | | | | adorned with strategically positioned Bougainvilleas. |
| be seen hanging over walls, from terraces, and from | | | | Typically, when visitors play the golf courses around |
| window sills in every Vallarta neighborhood. Because | | | | Vallarta, they will take a number of photographs of |
| they are so dense with foliage and prickly thorns, | | | | the scenery and it will invariably include Bougainvilleas. |
| they are ideal for and routinely used as colorful | | | | The standard comment is that it's exactly what one |
| hedges along walkways and between lots. | | | | would expect to find in Paradise! Of course, their |
| Now we ask, if all their flowers are white, why are | | | | comments may differ a bit immediately after |
| these plants so beautiful and colorful? The answer is | | | | spraying a tee shot out of the fairway and into one |
| that it's not their flowers that have drawn our | | | | of the magnificent Bougainvillea bushes with their |
| attention, it's their bracts! All bougainvilleas have small | | | | thorny branches and profusion of bracts and leaves |
| white trumpet shaped flowers in clusters of three, | | | | hanging down to the ground, making their ball virtually |
| surrounded by three or six brightly colored bracts. | | | | irretrievable! |
| These bracts are actually modified or specialized | | | | Included with the gorgeous and infinitely differing |
| leaves, generally slightly smaller than the green foliage | | | | evening sunsets, the Guadalupe Church, the sand |
| leaves and their purpose is to attract pollinators. In | | | | sculptures on the beach, and the bronze sculptures |
| the case of bougainvilleas, these bracts can be pink, | | | | on the malecon, the colorful Bougainvillea bracts are |
| magenta, purple, red, orange, yellow, white, or a | | | | among the most photographed topics in Vallarta. If |
| combination of colors. Poinsettia is another example | | | | you bring a camera to this tropical Paradise, make |
| of a beautiful plant, where the bright red color that | | | | sure you've got plenty of spare memory or film |
| we're familiar with at Christmas time is actually the | | | | because it's quite easy to get carried away taking |
| Poinsettia bract and not a flower. | | | | pictures before you've seen it all! |
| In Vallarta there are numerous tours that are taken | | | | If you're fortunate enough to be one of the 50,000 |
| on a daily basis by thousands of cruise boat | | | | North Americans living here, the next time a visitor to |
| passengers and other visitors. They include Safari | | | | the area comments on all the beautiful Bougainvillea |
| tours, Canopy tours, Jungle tours, City tours, etc., all | | | | flowers, you can be a real smart aleck by informing |
| of which have many beautiful sights to see with | | | | them that what they're admiring are actually bracts; |
| "photo ops" galore. One common "photo op" that can | | | | that all Bougainvillea flowers are white! |