Summer means the sun’s up and scorching. It means fruits of different shapes, colors and shapes and tastes. And it means the profusion of bougainvillea flowers in riotous colors along the roads and in the yards and the parks and the resorts and wherever you may be.
 
Even the leaves of bougainvillea have different colors –some with white designs, some with light green, some with really dark ones. A closer look at the leaves would reveal fine designs such as very rounded leaves or jagged leaves.

But bougainvilleas are best admired from afar. Their beauty shines with the sun and their colors are more vibrant and dazzling to the eyes. They come in hues of white, yellows, the palest to the most vivid pink or red, oranges, violets and many other colors of the rainbow.

No, they are not as delicate as roses nor elegant as orchids. And they don’t have that fragile scent of the sampaguita. They are hardy flowers – living with the rain and the sun. And I don’t think they ever needed fertilizers or pesticides. They bloom where you plant them, as long as their roots are firmly planted on the ground.

Yes, bougainvilleas are like the Filipinos. They are sturdy and they shine with the rain and live with the rain wonderfully. They shine where you plant them, even in the hottest zones of Saudi Arabia.

If I could have my way, I will have bougainvilleas as the national flower of the Philippines. After all, sampaguitas are nowhere to be found anymore and there seemed to be no efforts to propagate them. (Although, yes, I admit its a little difficult to spell bougainvillea)

 I ain’t seen any sampaguita plant for quite a long time now. Unlike bougainvilleas. The beautiful bougainvilleas.