I can tell you my experiences container-gardening bell peppers and jalapenos in Houston. I directly sow my seeds into small cheap pots, then transplant into large buckets with holes drilled in the bottom. For bell peppers: I keep the plant in partial shade year-round. I have a hanging system for them--the plant grows out of the bottom of a bucket hanging from the eve of my duplex. The pepper plant is 18 months old (no freeze last winter) and has given me several crops of peppers. I may start moving it to full sun in the Fall. For jalapenos: Right now, my jalapeno plants are in full sun. But the temperatures are only hitting the low to mid 90's. When it gets above 100, I'll move them to a shaded spot (using a cheap enclosure I made out of some leftover Ikea plastic shelving). Also: I cover the top of my jalapeno plants with compost (as the forum FAQ recommends) to help prevent the soil from drying out as quickly. We can get a lot of rain here, and my plants seem to tolerate it. One of my jalapeno plants did lose a bunch of flowers in a storm, and I think it will stay dormant until Fall. This happens a lot when we have very hot summers--my bell pepper and tomato plants stops producing when temperatures stay over 100, but will perk back up in late August. Last year I got a late summer crop, a February crop, and now they are going non-stop :).

The first thing to realize is that while many plants will be able to handle full sun in those conditions, they may need to be eased in to that much sun and they will probably look rough in the height of summer. The wall is going to reflect light and heat onto the plants and that is going to be a problem. If possible think about figureing out a way to give it some afternoon shade if possible. There are some Crassula, Aloe, Agave, Portulacaria that could be used. There are quite a few Mammillaria that would work. Opuntia, but you wouldn't want to brush up against it. Bulbine or Graptopetalum could work but the Graptopetalum might look sad in the summer. Aeonium martian heads could work if your ok with summer dormancy. Cotyledon orbiculata could work. Puyas would definitely work but don't walk past them. Aporophyllum might work as well.

Anything in pots or planters is likely to need repotting at some point. So if you use climbing plants that get all through the fence you will have to cut them off in order to get them repotted. And as mentioned with climbing plants being used on an architectural feature like a fence there is a need for consistently undertaken pruning and training in order to get the plants to assume and retain the desired size and shape. In addition to the regular cleaning up, fertilizing and watering that any kind of live plants used in your situation would require. So I think instead you should continue in the general direction of the fake fig panels, wherein you identify and implement some kind of material or product other than living plants that will still make it so your fence is not see through. It doesn't have to be something that looks like plants, just something that will produce a screening effect. And look acceptable to you.

FWIW, there are more hybrids nowadays of the more common lantana camara that are not very fertile, and don't spread so easily. Grasses seems like a good idea for full sun, since they're rather low maintenance and more tolerant of dry soil, once established. They look 'beachy' too, IMO. I've been admiring the pale fountain grasses I see in many places around here - I think it's Pennisetum orientale. It seems easy to grow from seed too, since I often see volunteers. https://floridata.com/plant/767 And purple fountain grass is very handsome as well. https://floridata.com/plant/78 Floridata.com has lots of other good plant info, and you can search by features like shade or drought tolerance, etc. Here's their list of grasses: https://floridata.com/plants/grass And I like Ti plants too - super low maintenance, hard to kill, attractive and easy to propagate. When they start getting too tall and straggly, you can simply cut off the top and stick it in some water until it roots and plant it for more. The cut stem then usually sprouts several new side shoots.