I agree, not everything we want, will survive here. For various reasons. But..You can grow more, than you may have thought. I am retired, and there is no HOA. My goal has been to amend my environment to take the heat off during the summer. To cool my yard and plants and home. So far, the more shade I create; by tree or structure, the more survives and thrives and the more pleasant outside is during the summer. My husband shrink wraps my patio in the winter, lol, and hangs a heat lamp on a timer; instant greenhouse. Tomato's and peppers thrived and bloomed and set fruit very early. Right now, I have hung sheets along with the other shade cloth over my veggies, and I am picking peppers and cherry tomato's daily. Almost total shade and new blooms daily. I think summer shade, over everything, makes a huge difference for most things here. Even the desert plants, the ones that grow in full sun here, look lusher and happier under summer shade..Just my personal views. And yes, my backyard does resemble a Bedouin camp right now, lol, but the neighbors haven't complained and enjoy the baskets of produce we give them.

Well Hi Vickie! I didn't expect you to reply. Nice surprise. : ) Sorry to hear about your computer woes. Do you still use a dial-up connection? Don't forget that Gardenweb has a computer forum. Someone there might be able to tell you how to turn off the ads. I get an occasional pop-up but I'm not sure which site they come from. My hubby is the computer genious in the family. I'm pretty sure he has turned off some ads but I don't know how he did it. I repotted my bougainvillea after I got it. I didn't realize that it's one of those plants that flowers better when the roots are crowded. It went all summer without blooming. Now I'm finally getting just a few flowers but it's supposed to get down in the 30s Saturday night. It was covered with blooms and SO pretty when I first got it. Wish I had left it alone. I'd rather put it in the garage just in case there are critters hiding down in the dirt and because the container is rather large. It stays above freezing in there unless the outside temp drops down to zero or below.

I agree, they love being dry especially while indoors. I think I might have watered mine 2 times the entire time it was indoors. It had a bad case of spidermites, but stayed alive. Now its outside getting a little more water, but it dries out because that encourages flowers. Mine also dropped a lot of leaves (to the point where it had almost none left) when it first went inside for the year, but it recovered really fast. They really hate being introduced into a new place, but they get used to it. Good luck!

Maryl, maybe your neighbor is a curse..LOL j/k Bougs are succulents plants, but in hot/sunny weather needs good waterings, though soil shouldn't remain wet. Is your boug growing outdoors or in the house? The flowers could have been hanging on a long time, nearing the time to drop..did they look faded when u bought the plant? How about fertilizing? Have you fertilized? Though I wouldn't say they need a lot, they do need to be fed during growing season. It's true Bougs need good light, especially if you want them to bloom. I can't speak for OK, since I've never been there, but once mine are set outside, they're placed in a southern exposure..I would suggest your boug needs a minimum of 4 hours direct sun, then bright the remainder of the day..keep an eye on the plant to see how it's handling the light...and please do so gradually..if you set in direct sun all at once it will burn. If it's outside now, it's already adapting to brighter light.. BTW, have you changed anything, like repotting? new soil? Toni