Planted two bougainvillea will they last the winter?

I'm in zone 8 and they say their hardiness is from zone 8-10, what should I do to protect it this winter if anything, or will it act like a perrenial/tree and just go dormant? Thanks!!


PS I'm from Florida where they grow like crazy!!

Planted two bougainvillea will they last the winter?
I'm originally from San Diego and always had them in my garden. I also lived in Arizona and grew them. I'm now in NC too and don't see them around too much. At all really (I'm in charlotte). During a freeze in AZ a couple of years ago, I put bed sheets over mine and they survived.





If you buy your plants at Home Depot or Lowe's they both have a 1 yr warranty, so you could try it and return them if they die!
Reply:I live here in California. During the winter we had a hard freeze here. I thought we lost our's like we lost a bunch of our other plants, but those things are hard to kill. It came back like gangbusters. The only thing I don't like about it, is the thorns.
Reply:Hi , they are a tropical plant and do not go dormant. If you hear that it's going to get below thirty two degrees, you'd better cover them with a blue plastic tarp. You can buy those at the hardware store,and are handy to have a few on hand. If they are fairly young plants,they will freeze and you will lose them. I learned the hard way,and breaks my heart to think I could have saved them by just throwing something over them. Bye
Reply:Hello





In my zone bougainvillea are sold as annual's or during the off season tropicals. Although being in Florida you should have very little to worry about. If you wanted to ensure it's survival you could wrap it in burlap (NOT PLASTIC) leaving the top open and stuffing it with either newspaper or leaves. Leaves are always the better bet because the newspaper tends to break down from water or the slight chance that you guys get snow. That will ensure that if the temperatures drop below its survival point that some insulation will be there to maintain some heat. After the first or second year you should be in good shape. Goodluck





Greenman