okie dokie. does anyone know what to do when one's bougainvilla turns brown and crunchy?? due to the freezes we've had here, it looks kinda, well, dead!! can i prune it to the ground and hope it'll come back??

welcome to the forum!!

well, even tho it did freeze in your area - totally unusual - i'm sure it wasn't cold long enough for the ground to freeze up, so the roots are probably okay. especially if this is a well-established plant!

so, trimming back the damaged parts would be the thing to do. trim back a bit and look at the cut end...keep trimming back (every 6-8 inches or so) until you see healthy green inside.

cutting back to ground-level would probably be okay too...i'd hate to see you lose so much of your vine tho - especially if it's not really needed to give it such a drastic trimming!

we have a different type of soil in Cali. the frost level actually penetrated 15 inches in some areas.

cut the boug back until you reach green wood. it is NOT dead.

P.S.

wait until after the last chance of frost. that way you will not allow the cold to kill the tender new growth.

thenk-yew, thenk-yew verry much. i'm thinking i need to wait til around memorial day to prune this thing. that's the tradional planting weekend in the midwest. supposedly that's the frost free sign. again, thanks for the info. i actually was just outside looking at it. the new buds are goners, and i was going to start bending the vines to see where the dead ends and green starts. but like i said, i'll wait.