Bougainvillea is not your typical houseplant-in its natural state, it's a sprawling climber and shrub with formidable thorns, often found on the exterior of buildings (like climbing up a trellis or over a fence) or in gardens in subtropical-to-tropical climates.It's known for its green foliage and vibrant pink, purple, and orange hues that most people assume are the plant's flowers-however, they're actually petal-like bracts that hide bougainvillea's true blooms, which are typically small white or yellow buds.If you don't live in a warm enough climate to successfully grow bougainvillea outdoors year-round, you're in luck-the shrub is surprisingly easy to grow indoors in containers or pots and can thrive if the right conditions are maintained.Despite its showy nature, bougainvillea is not a particularly high-maintenance plant. The vine-y shrub typically blooms three times a year once established, often going dormant and losing its leaves, bracts, and flowers during the cooler winter months.Bougainvillea plants are lovers of sunlight and need full daily exposure in order to thrive. Because of this, many growers choose to move their potted bougainvillea outdoors during the summer months in order to ensure it gets enough rays.