My neighbor has a few queen palms and she keeps them in the corner of her yard near 2 sides of the block wall fence. This seems to keep it warm enough in the winter as it's never really looked bad. They hang over the wall and shade the block wall in the summer which is really nice. Another plant not mentioned here if you're looking for a tropical look is banana trees. You can get some that are very cold tolerant, and even if they aren't, it's only the leaves that die in our winters here (afaik).

This post is rather late compared to the last, but just to put out my 2 cents ... In the Bakersfield area, the big January Freeze knocked down Bougainvilleas, Cut Leaf Philodendrons, Pygmy Date Palms, Banana Plants, Lantanas, Australian Tree Ferns, Jasmines and Bird of Paradise plants. However, quite amazingly, even the most horribly damaged and dead looking plants are pushing up new leaves and shoots. Stark examples include Cut Leaf Philodendrons that looked like rotting stumps that shoot out new growth from deep in the soil and to the side of the old rotting stump. Banana Plants that looked dead and one might be tempted to root up and trash are regaining good height with new growth. About the only plants that I have that are still painfully slow in recovery are two Pygmy Data Palms, one of which is just beginning to put up new growth and the other, still green and tender at the base, just doesn't seem to want to wake up.

The thing is..my palms were never in complete shade..it was always part shade with a few hours of direct sun..then it became the fronds in sun,the trunks in shade. But I think no matter how close I came to the required light for blooming..it wasn't the minimum. Now,over the roof,it is all day sun. And i hope to plant many of those those future seeds. People in the bay area love King palms,most here not knowing they will grow here even as they are in awe over their exotic looks. They are NOT common here. You still have to search to find them. Nothing like Washingtonia's or CIDP or Queen palms ALL on every corner.

Xill, You should be able to grow many things they grow in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. One I am particularly enamoured with is leucophyllum. It THRIVES on heat and will flower all summer with available water. There are several types and a few hybrids. It's a slow grower, but if it gets leggy, you can slash it to the ground and it regrows. If you drive around the Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage area you will see them looking like silk plants! Behind the Mimi's Cafe on HWY 111 (I think it is) they've used it as a hedge in their parking lot. They keep the two types they grow there tightly sheared with regular (don't know the frequency, but it can't be that heavy) and every time I've seen them over the years, they are tight, densely foliated to the ground and paved with flowers. Unpruned, they get open and airy. I grow them here on my hill in Encino and love them. They can get large, so you might want to plant them higher on the slope so they can achieve the privacy you want before you begin shaping and shearing them to be the density you want. There are several foliage and flower colors so you can mix and match to give yourself the texture and colors you want. Plant them as specimen or densely to form a tight hedge (as has been done in town in Rancho Mirage). Absolutely gorgeous shrub which stretches like an old cat in that kind of heat! And, they're native to the desert south west and Mexico so you know they'll work! I have never seen any pest or disease problems with them. Just give them decent drainage, though with careful watering, I've planted them in less than decent drainage and had them thrive in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Municipalities and HOAs are using them for xeriscaping common areas. Also take a look at Dwarf Myrtle, myrtis communis compacta. It is a weed and can be hacked mercilessly, exploding from thick, old wood, requiring minimal water once established, dense foliage, lovely spring flowers with small, dark blue berries afterward. The foliage scent is lovely and is actually used as a rinse for dark colored hair. You can leave them alone of prune them tightly for extremely dense coverage. They say it grows to three feet, but the fifty year old plants out back are easily five feet by five feet. Here, it gets very infrequent water and full, all day sun. Not that my sun can compare to YOURS, but nothing, not even the gophers and rabbits, has been able to irritate it and it smells SO good! It makes a pretty contrast to the leucophyllum and both should be pretty with your bougainvilleas. To add other colors, in case they are desired, plant as many Salvia greggii types as you can find. All hot time color, extremely water thrifty and they LOVE heat! Hummingbirds love the leucophyllum and slavia. They come in a variety of color and are another plant you can shear severely and have explode again when it gets hot. I don't know if you have any rabbit or gopher issues, but they leave this one alone, period! Hope they help! Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Leucophyllum