Bougainvillea alternative?

[sillyglue]

hi everyone! i live in pasadena (hardiness 10a, climate 21). I'd like some kind of colorful hedge growing along my backyard's 4' brick wall which has trellis-like bars/fencing over the top. my original thought was various colored bougainvilleas because i LOVE vibrant year round color. but i'm worried about the thorns and aggressive nature of this plant requiring diligent pruning. any suggestions for friendlier alternatives? thanks in advance!

 

[alp]

How about willow hedging!

You can use it as biomass for your fire as well. Don't know about hardiness though. Someone else might help. You could use the red stems or even purple stems.

Or Cornus with red flowers and berries in winter.

Any cornus with red/pink flowers are a delight

Viburnum plicatum Mariesii is my firm favorite

Or Kilimanjaroi if you can find it.

Please research for hardiness.

 

[Silentrunning]

What about Azaleas? They come in many colors.

 

[TravelingGardener]

Hi sillyglue! Have you thought about Island Snapdragon (Galvesia)? There are many varieties, some of which grow into thicket-like hedges. They produce flowers pretty consistently throughout the year, and bonus, attract critters! http://californianativeplants.com/galvezia/

You could also front-plant with other native color bombs like sand-verbenas, poppies. There are some great tips here (it's a pdf, just fyi): https://bringingbackthenatives.net/...ason-Loong-Bloom-ALREADY-UPLOADED.pages_1.pdf

Good luck!

 

[treeguy]

Different colored Bougies will have different growth rates and won't fill-in evenly.