I think hitting the ground just before the summer solstice could have hastened maturity, too. I've had this happen with early corn that I got out late. Always learning something new: the Big Wind blew over the early corn just after it had set ears. We propped em up with stakes and ropes, and they made quota -- 50 nice ears from 50 row feet. For all I know, their sloppy stature enhanced productivity due to increased photosynthesis.

Interesting thing about pokeweed, it's grown in Europe for the berry's juice. They use it to stamp meat (like USDA Grade A sorts of labeling). European gardeners also grow variegated forms as dot or container plants. Birds everywhere adore the berries. Could be Leucothoe axillaris behind it.

Nandina makes a decent hedge. You keep it at a manageable height and keep it looking fresh by getting in there once a year and selectively removing the oldest, tallest stems. It can reach the eves of a 1 story house eventually. Disadvantages is that It spreads by rhizomes so you have to keep it in bounds root-wise, and if you don't remove the old tall stems you get a bare base and a tall plant arching outwards. Eventually kind of scraggly. With yearly maintenance it can stay pretty. Ignored it can get pretty sad and taller than 4'. I like Nandina 'Firepower', though it's not going to get 4', more like 2'. It's really well behaved and very shrubby/pretty, doesn't spread like Gulfstream. Red fountain grass should be cut to the ground once a year in late winter as new growth appears, to keep it looking good, not sheared into a bottle brush shape. It's a grass and needs to be refreshed. So you temporarily lose your hedge every year for a month or two. Is that going to work? What about common myrtle, which shears into a really pretty hedge and can be kept at about any size. Its slow growing so one shear a year is fine, and can live on winter rain alone, provided we get some winter rain. The foliage has a beautiful sweet fragrance and the foliage is a deep, dark green year round. It's also very tough and long-lived. Boxwood does pretty good considering you are so near the coast. Inland it looks poorly in heat and in winter cold. These would be examples of standard easily available plants for reliable performance, rather than a trendy solution. Avoid Euonymous because it needs more water to look good and protection from scale and spider mites. It looks great in a pot at the nursery but commonly not too good in your yard a couple of years later. Jade plant believe it or not makes a decent hedge and needs little water, but I'm not a jade plant fan myself.

Not all rhododendrons and azaleas here have root rot either, not all roses have black spot and so on. It does not automatically follow that if a plant is a certain kind and certain problems are seen on that kind in a region, that every specimen will be afflicted. In the case of water molds the specimen has to become infested first, before the disease develops. As common as a particular strain may become at a particular time, not everyone gets the flu either.