That might depend on where you live in Houston. I used to live in the Tomball/Spring area, and you would think, that being farther North, it would be cooler than here in Pasadena. But Pasadena gets a lot of cool air from the ocean, so its actually easier to grow plants here, because there is more shade, since neighborhoods have established trees, and because the heat doesn't wilt my plants as much. I haven't seen a lot of Bougainvillea growing in north houston, but I see it all over south of downtown. And it seems to do really well- the bushes/trellies of bougainvillea here look very healthy and full. However, maybe its my soil, but my rose bush, a teacup hybrid, is doing very well, even though its not in the sun quite as much as recommended. (Oddly enough, though my first blossom was dark red, now all the flowers coming in are a hot pink.) So what I would do is think about how much shelter your plants will be getting- bougainvillea does much better with the scorching heat, but roses in the area seem to do a bit better during hurricane season- and how fast the plant will spread. Do you mind that it might be a couple years before your roses climb to the top of your trellis?

Well the trellis is pretty tall. I do think that it will be a couple of years before the rose could grow over a decent area on the trellis. Its a really long trellis like 40 feet or maybe more. The boug. right now barely have any young leaves. I don't even think it will be strong enough to grow on the trellis since it took awhile for it to have new leaves. The boug also have more thorns than the roses. My mom has a lady bank rose and it took almost 2 and a half years before it had substantial growth. I think boug. grow much faster than roses, but they are so susceptible to the cold. We also put some planters under the trellis over the winter and tied tarp and blanket around the trellis to keep the plants warm. I would hate to climb on the trellis to tied it and step on a bunch of thorns lol. Could you prune the boug. before it gets to cold so you could handle it better?

{{gwi:262124}}

That lady banks is beautiful! Is that planted in the ground or in a container?

Its planted in the ground.

supaflyz - I have climbing rose Mme. Alfred C. covers 20' grew fast, bloomed fast, beautiful, aromatic But you have to prune it Every year.

Enjoy my passion vines much more, exotic tropical looking magnificient flowers, small fruit, no pruneing to speak of, Evergreen, some fragrant. Look for Incense, Blue Crown, and the white one, whose name escapes me. Incense smells just like incense and will die back here, but come on like gangbusters in spring.

Check out the passion vine forum, you might be able to mix a Frederick in and have large, sweet fruit in Houston, It has a huge showy white and deep purple flowers and would look great on pillars. I grew it one year but overwatered it over winter inside.

Oh you get butterflies too.

sandy 8_b If you e-mail me i will send some photos of my passies and rose.