Question
My wife & I live in NE US and bought a home in South FL.  We get to visit 3 -5 times a year for now.  We love Bougainvillea plants and planted our first plant approx. 18 months ago.  Plant gets some morning and evening sun and is not in shade during the day. Plant has several thick trunks and is approx. 6" tall.  Morning sun side has plenty of leaves with some blossoms while evening sun side is losing leaves with leaves turning yellow and falling off.  Very few blossoms all over.  Can you help/advise?

Answer
Hey Jim! glad to help you out there, I also live in south Florida and Bougs seem to be the most common question I get; They, like Hibiscus, can be very temperamental plants, many people give up on them and dig them up, which is a shame because, if given half a chance, and managed correctly, they usually turn around and within a month or two are full of colorful "bracts" (the misconception is that the color is blossoms, the actual blossoms are the little white center of the bracts). Bougs don't like wet feet, in fact they do their best when stressed, so lay off the water; second, a low nitrogen high phosphorous fertilizer is the key here, frequent, low amounts of granular will help a lot(monthly should do fine). Watch for caterpillar damage, (tattered leaves) and treat if necessary. Follow this lead, and you should see a dramatic turn, for now, prune off any dead wood (make sure its dead wood though) and then just be patient. good luck Nick