In short: I went to Solomou Garden Centre near Nicosia “just for a pot”, got lost among the plants and left with a three-metre bougainvillea for my balcony. The video shows what this garden centre has, what the purchase cost and why delivery with repotting mattered more than a discount.
How I ended up there
I moved to Nicosia, and I have a big but sad balcony: wind, dust, sun. The previous tenant even put the seat cushions away in a cupboard. I wanted a green wall instead of wind and scorching sun.
An AI suggested the garden centre: I asked Codex from OpenAI. It also recommended plants for a balcony like mine: bougainvillea, jasmine and rosemary. I went for a pot, thinking they only sold pots. It turned out to be a whole “supermarket for botanists”: instead of walking between shelves of groceries, you walk between rows of all kinds of plants.
Another discovery: for some reason I thought Cyprus was a scorched desert where trees just don’t grow. They do grow. People probably just don’t plant many.
What Solomou has
In the video you can see:
- open and covered rows of plants, including trees that can grow up to five metres;
- bougainvilleas of different sizes, rosemary, orchids, banana seedlings, olives, bulbs;
- giant pots and planters, including very tall ones: I found one for the royal date palm I grew from a seed (Super Home Center didn’t have a suitable one);
- drainage stones, supports, canes and garden accessories;
- an automatic watering system;
- a café and a children’s play area, so you can come with kids;
- a service area: it looks like a whole lab back there.
The service that made it work
Many of the pots they sell have no drainage holes. I asked, and they drilled them right there, in both of my pots.
And just as I started wondering how to wrap a three-metre plant and get it up to the second floor, it turned out they would deliver it, set it up and repot it for free. For a flat, that changes everything: getting a bougainvillea, a pot, soil and drainage home on your own is almost impossible.
What it cost
| # | Item | Price in the video |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Three-metre bougainvillea | about €230 |
| 2 | Its pot | about €70 |
| 3 | Whole purchase including two rosemary plants | about €300–350 |
This is one purchase in May 2026, not Solomou’s price list: prices depend on size, season and choice. How I justified it to myself: I would have spent as much or more on a technical windbreak for the balcony, and this way I also got greenery.
My bougainvillea had a bow tied on it with “Ekaterina” written on it. As usual, I didn’t look at everything: I grabbed the first big one that matched the picture of the balcony in my head. Only afterwards did I see even taller ones.
The delivery: broken branches are normal
They lifted the bougainvillea up to my second floor from below, and it got hurt: branches broke, and some had to be bandaged. At first it looked like “plant abuse”. But as I learned, bougainvilleas often break, in the wind too, and that’s normal for them. Now it’s growing where I guide it.
How to care for a bougainvillea
The UK’s Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) gives these rules. They’re written for the British climate, where bougainvillea is kept under glass, but the essentials apply to a Cyprus balcony too:
- Sun. Bougainvillea needs a bright, sunny spot. My balcony only gets sun until about three in the afternoon, then shade, and shade is exactly what it doesn’t want. If your balcony faces north, choose another plant.
- Support. It’s a large climber: it needs a trellis or a pillar. I still have to find a strong support for mine.
- Watering and feeding. While it’s growing strongly (from around mid-April), water freely and feed weekly with a high-nitrogen fertiliser. When colour appears, switch to a high-potassium feed. After flowering (usually September) water less often, and from November occasionally but thoroughly.
- Pruning. Bougainvillea flowers on the current season’s growth. Prune in late winter or early spring, before growth begins. After the first flush of colour, long shoots can be cut back by half to encourage a second flush in late summer.
- The colour isn’t petals. The bright part of a bougainvillea is bracts, not the flowers themselves.
- Cold. Keep the minimum night temperature around 10 °C; it doesn’t tolerate frost.
Checklist before going to a garden centre
- Where will the plant stand, and how many hours of direct sun does that spot get?
- How windy is it?
- Can the balcony take a large pot full of soil and water?
- Does the pot have drainage holes, and can they drill them on the spot?
- Do you need stones, soil, a support or ties?
- Will they deliver and repot the plant, and what does that cost?
- What will you do if branches break in transit?
The main mistake is choosing with your eyes only. In Cyprus, sun, wind, water, pot size and logistics matter.
Why the video is a “stream of consciousness”
In the second half of the video I talk about something personal. After moving and the start of the war, I was in survival mode and put normal life on hold. I once even dreamed of a small herb shop, and never imagined it could look like this. Now I’m slowly coming back to life.
Also: I always felt a video had to be perfect, with good quality, a script and someone filming me. But then there would be no video at all. So this is just a stream of consciousness: a walk, choosing, doubts, buying and a bit of chaos. In return you see the garden centre not as an advertising catalogue but as a real trip for plants.
Q&A
Where can I buy plants near Nicosia?
One option is Solomou Garden Centre near Nicosia. The video shows rows of plants, large pots, drainage stones, supports, a café, a children’s play area and the service: they drill holes in pots, and a large plant was delivered and repotted for free.
How much did the bougainvillea cost in the video?
The three-metre bougainvillea was about €230, its pot about €70, and the whole purchase with two rosemary plants about €300–350. These are prices from one purchase in May 2026, not a price list.
What does a bougainvillea need on a balcony?
As much sun as possible, a pot with drainage holes and support: according to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), bougainvillea needs a trellis or pillar, generous watering in the growing season and pruning in late winter. Brittle branches are normal for this plant.
Sources and further reading
- Video and subtitles — YouTube, 2026-05-24. The video is in Russian.
- RHS: how to grow bougainvillea (checked 18 October 2026).
See also: