Photos of Bouganvilla, Hibiscus, and Orange Trees in Marrakesh
Marrakesh is a really colorful place to live, in every season. If the people back home could see these photos, they’d understand one of the things I love about living here! These are colorful springtime photos of the plants I see every day.
Bouganvilla in Marrakesh:
These bouganvilla photos (above) were taken at the school where I work, but different colors of bouganvilla are typically growing around nearly every house and apartment in Marrakesh.
Hibiscus in Marrakesh (I have several of these growing in my yard):
Tall, Yellow-Flowered Bush in Marrakesh:
Orange Tree in my yard in Marrakesh, laden with fruit, in March:
Madame Monet
May 1, 2008 at 6:03 pm
hi.i like your site
May 3, 2008 at 11:15 am
Beautiful flowers . . . and nice photos!
May 18, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I am enjoying the green here in TN, but there is something about the beauty of Marrakesh flowers….beautiful! Kristen
August 14, 2008 at 4:17 am
I would like to know how big bouganvilla and hibiscus plants get, how often to water, special care they need, et cetera?
August 14, 2008 at 8:40 am
Hi Roberta,
The way they grow, they remind me a lot of ivy, the way it can climb up walls of houses. They can climb up the entire wall of your house, and even block your windows, if not kept “under control.” It grows VERY quickly if you give it quite a bit of water. If you don’t water it much, it’s pretty hardy, but grows more slowly. We live in a moderately dry, sub-tropical climate here, very similar to Tuscon, Arizona in terms of summer and winter temperatures.
They are beautiful, but COVERED WITH THORNS, which is why they are often used as “protection” in Middle Eastern countries. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to some countries (such as in South America) where you find everyone having an 8-ft. wall around their yard, front and back, with broken glass bottles inserted face up permanently in the cement, to deter thieves. Well here, bouganvillia serves the same purpose. It grows up and over the wall. It can grow quite quickly, and provides a thorny cover to deter thieves, yet looks beautiful at the same time.
If you are going to use it, I would suggest NOT putting it right up against your house. A better use might be along your back fence (or in a corner of your fence, but only if neighbors with children don’t live behind, because it will tend to grow over the top and in to the neighbor’s yard as well, and being a very thorny plant, they might be annoyed about having to be responsible to cut it all the time.
In time, the old vines die off, leaving a dead tangle of thorns underneath (very good if your property abutted a shopping center for example, to keep kids or anyone from jumping over the fence into your yard), but on top will be a beautiful growth as in the pictures.
How big it can get is it tends to grow up a couple feet an fall over sideways over the top of a fence, and make a tangle a couple of feet thick all over. If planted next to a building, it can easily climb a second story with time (like ivy).
If you decide to use it, let me know, and I’ll send you some REALLY IMPORTANT pruning tips that make a BIG difference to ease of care of it later on. But ask me BEFORE you plant it, and I’ll send you a couple of pictures of the right and wrong ways to prune.
Best regards,
Madame Monet
November 12, 2008 at 4:35 am
Beautiful, M.
I copied your pix of fauna into a file “MM”.
Looks like paradise.
We just got back from BIG LOTS, a discount store.
The cashier, Habiba, is from Fez.
Ironically, she spoke to us at length about the beautiful villa’s with orange trees in her Morocco.
She couldn’t explain why she was in New Jersey.
Neither can I.
November 12, 2008 at 4:44 am
M, I mean to say that your pix of ‘flora’ are beautiful.
My error, however, leads me to wonder…
Are there Moroccan rabbits and squirrels amongst the flora?
Must you keep an eye out for snakes and scorpions, while you take in the beauty of the flowering plants?
regards
August 13, 2009 at 10:13 am
Awesome flowers. I’d love to have your advise on planting these. I’m planning to plant them to grow up trellis along my garage. I’m worried though that they will grow over the roof and damage it.
August 15, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Ruth, they most likely wouldn’t damage your roof, BUT I would NOT advise planting them to grow up your house wall. The reason is that the plants are COVERED WITH THORNS. You probably won’t want fast-growing thorns on a high, hard-to-reach location on top of your house (unless you’re trying to keep thieves out, of course). If you are going to plant it I would suggest they should be planted next to a fence at the edge of the property–and yes, they will climb over, so if your fence backs up to a neighbor, better ask first (they could always cut their side, but might get angry with a fast-growing thory plant coming over). BUT if you have any locations where you NEED protection to keep others from climbing over your fence, for example, it is ideal. They are used here in Marrakesh in lieu of broken glass bottles that are mounted in the tops of cement perimeter walls in South American countries for protection, for example. If you hire others to cut them and do your yard work, it would be OK, but if you are doing it yourself, you may grow to hate them with all the thorns. Just be sure it’s what you really want (a beautiful defense is what they are here).
Best of luck!
Madame Monet