Sprays of Bougainvillea

When traveling to the Amalfi coast in the summer, prepare yourselves for a pink experience .. all over Positano, Sorrento, Capri ... Before summer is preparing to leave, and after heavy bouts of rain and thunderstorms that ushered in cooler weather on the Amalfi coast, it is time to enjoy the colors of summer again, and they should be lively ones, so I chose pictures conveying the colors of the bougainvillea plants.

A huge bougainvillea plant is shielding the outdoor restaurant of Hotel Royal, Sorrento, from the summer sun

The coast and the islands of the Gulf of Naples are a natural habitat for bougainvillea, which is of course not an endemic plant here but comes originally from South America. Like so many other tropical and subtropical plants it takes exceedingly well here in this soft and moist climate of the Amalfi coast and islands, and really must enjoy the light sea breezes coming in from the nearby shores. 

Bougainville in a Sorrento summer garden, this one is at least 3 meters high

Here are some examples of marvelous bougainvillea plants that embellish just about everything - from walls, fences, gardens, and even house facades, as you can see in the example below where a bougainvillea plant is spanning the facade of the Maiorita store in Anacapri. Still, the colorful twigs are not flowers but leaves that turn pink, violet, rose, orange, white or yellow. Bougainvillea does have flowers but they are so small with their tiny white and yellow corollae so they can be easily overlooked. 

I have been going through my Amalfi and Capri flower picture collection and would like to share with you a few of the pictures I took with sprays of bougainville playing the main part.

Bougainvillea framed in by banana trees and yucca, on the terrace next to the sea, Sorrento, Hotel Royal

Bougainvillea plants are trimmed as trees or they come as shrubs, but they never go unnoticed.

Sprays of bougainvillea against the Sorrento summer sky (pale blue and misty in the morning)

I love bougainvillea for the sharp contrast they provide to the blindingly white-washed houses on Capri. They come as small plants like the one below, or they even span whole facades, look at the example of Maiorita's store in Anacapri. Or bougainvillea plants come as color spots in the otherwise greenish Mediterranean gardens, taking their place amongst bananas, fichi d'India, yuccae and date palms.

Spray of bougainvillea greeting the guests at the Marina Grande in Capri (this one is a potted plant) and lightening up Capri's most touristic spot

Bougainvillea embellishing the facade of Maiorita's store, Anacapri

Livening up the greens: A garden at Via Orlandi, Anacapri

Shielding lush gardens from the crowds and framing in the entrance doors: Via Orlandi, Capri

Colorful fence: Bougainvillea dividing private gardens and orchards from Via Axel Munthe, Anacapri

And here it is: Bougainvillea in stark contrast to the white-washed walls, climbing up balconies and facades in Capri town, tell-tale colors amongst other plants in almost every garden

Buying bougainvillea: the little ones, sold at the flower store next to Capri's Piazzetta