I think I would, and either leave it empty or put in something very low? Pretty house! Nice to see you it's been a while.

@mtnrdredux_gw Thank you!! :)

I was thinking of adding 2-3 trees and low plants. I feel guilty getting rid of the bougenvillea as they have been there so long, but I’m not good at maintaining them and I just don’t like them when they are not pink. This is the mastic that I tagged:

Perhaps the overall landscaping needs a fresh eye to evaluate what you have. The front looks divided into two types of plans. A little disjointed.

I don’t think you can damage them by cutting them back now. Where I live ( La Quinta , near Palm Springs ) they are pruned year around. They’re very hardy plants from what I’ve observed.

I also think I would consider a hard pruning to get rid of all the dead stuff, and allow them some time to regrow. They might look better if they had something to scramble up onto, rather than maintaining a shrub form.

OK, got it. I have bougainvillea at my home and they can be wonderful and a curse. You can start by cutting them back. They can take it. I have chopped mine to the ground numerous times and they always grow back.

However, it's sometimes a problem keeping them short because you might end up cutting the blooms off. Just depends on when yours bloom.

We have a wet season when the bushes won't bloom and then a dry season when they will during the winter. Yours might be just the opposite.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b thank you. that’s a great idea. They are probably 50 years old. The trunks are huge. I’m not sure if I it can be done, but I can ask.

@BeverlyFLADeziner Thank you. So it sounds like you would keep them? I’m just not sure they fit the house. I need to go back and find a photo of them blooming, which might change my mind. I do have three other smaller bushes and they are so easy to take care of and pretty. Maybe these just need to be cut way back so they are much smaller balls?

If I do that, can I add my mastic?

Here are two other ideas:

TE= texas ebony. M= mastic.

I’m obsessed with the yucca trees right now…

As someone who lives where bougainvillea won't thrive or bloom and who covets them in every place I've ever been where they do thrive, the thought of taking them out is like a stake in my heart. I'd do whatever I could to ensure they would bloom and would think about building a structure where they could climb.

I would remove them and see how you like it. I think it would look better to keep it more open.

BTW, I actively dislike MCM but I love your house. It makes me feel swanky and like I need a martini and a trapeze dress. LOL

How are your parrots?

The bougainvillea in Palm Springs and Cathedral City bloom well all year, but we do not have a wet season, to speak of, since we only get 5 inches of rain a year. I love them when they are blooming, but I'm not used to seeing them out of bloom. Even in Los Angeles they seem to bloom all the time. If they are not good bloomers, I would not want to keep them, as the thorns are particularly nasty.

I've mentioned to others that I have missed seeing you here because I love your style, and I have a house in the desert now (Cathedral City), but it is Spanish Colonial on the exterior, unlike Modern like yours, which is what I prefer. We did not have the choices in Cathedral City that we would have had in Palm Springs, but PS was not in our budget.

Even though I do not have bougainvillea at my house in Cathedral City, we still get the flowers blowing into our pool, and I'm not sure where they are coming from.

When we move full time to the desert, we will do some more landscaping ourselves, and we need to replace our sprinkler system. There are very few plants we will be able to take with us from L.A., but I think the Madagascar Palm should do okay. Cathedral City is Zone 10a, and I have never noticed a frost there.

Here's a photo of some bougainvillea on Da Vall Drive in Cathedral City:

Now that I think about it, I've mainly seen them planted against walls as opposed to freestanding. The ones I had in Venice were also planted against walls. This can help them grow more vertically.

In your case, I would remove the large one and keep the smaller one. They do make good barriers, but I don't think you are using them for that. You could try cutting them way back, but they grow back very quickly, from my experience.

@olychick Wow those are gorgeous! I don’t thnk they can be trained as they have very thick tree-like trunks. But they grow very easly here, so i could always start with a new one.

@mtnrdredux_gw Thank you! That really means a lot! This house has been quite the adventure! I missed you all too! The parrots are great! They have their own room now, huge, with lots of lots of shaded floor to ceiling glass. I lost Dash a coulple weeks ago - a rescue nanday who was sick, skinny and had an autoimmune disease when I got her. I’m still grieving, tbh. :( I just hate the fact that she may never have had a good life, and was likely very old. I wish someone with money would stick up for the parrots and push to put limits on breeding and ownership. I guess I need to start buying lottery tickets!

@Lars I’m so happy to hear you are in the PS area and loving it! My father has a vacation home in Bermud Dunes and we go there often! It’s such a beautiful area. Spanish style can definitely by mcm though, I think, if it’s the old california spanish style. Even if not, I love seeing midcentury decor in traditioanl, victorian or spenish homes. I swear it looks good everywhere! I also get the leaves in the pool! Grrrr! I’m not too far from you (Phoenix), so things grow pretty similarly. For whatever reason, maybe due to my lack of attn., these bushes never bloomed regularly. It’s possible the water was turned off to them. The landscapers made some major errors with the watering system. I have new people coming thursday. I’m thinking you are right and I should leave the smaller one, remove the bigger one.

Okay, so I’m leaning towards taking out the big one, leaving the small one, but cutting it back. I for some reason am obssessed with mastic trees. What do you think of a mastic with a texas ebony and one more yucca in place of the big bougenvillea? I can add yellow lantana and low stuff in the fall. I just need to fill in the slope with tall things for some privacy.

Mastic tree

Olychick - I think you read my mind 😃

I was just thinking of the dramatic bougainvillea towers at the Getty museum in L.A.. They're made from rebar. The gardens and grounds there are spectacular.

And the first home my sister and BIL lived in in Santa Monica had a gorgeous, huge bougainvillea spilling over on an arbor over their front door

@ rockybird - have you seen the desert garden at the Huntington? Also spectacular.

https://www.huntington.org/desert-garden

And I was also just thinking about tall plumed grasses. Much less maintenance than the bougainvillea.

I would get rid of them--they are overgrown and not right for that space. I feel like it is two blobby bushes that are drawing the eye away from an exquisite house and other more attractive landscaping.

someone trimmed them to look like shrubs and they're not. (unless they're pruned correctly

I'd take them out and start over.

I like your current trees and wouldn't do any others like that texas behemouth.

I think you should aim for more of the PS mcm landscape. similar to what you've done behind that wall. Love it.

I might bring in some more colors though. try some ceramic pots or colorful boulders.

some concrete stepping stones/path would also be nice

So glad you are back. I do love MCM homes-the windows, the light, the way they often fit into the landscape and your is such a perfect example. The dogs provide a good juxtaposition of styles, too! Where are the birds?

Anyway, I have never heard of a Mastic tree. They look quite amazing and I think you need one since you adore them! Plus, you never seem to make poor choices when it comes to your home, so have it and do what your heart tells you! Then, share photos and hang around with us.

Get rid of the bougainvillea and do not shed a single tear. They do not go with the house or the rest of your landscape, which is amazing by the way, at all. The form and texture of the bougainvillea is at odds with everything else and you will never be able to stop them from growing huge. Kill them. All of them.

You guys are great! Thank you for all the comments! They are so helpful! I think I will take them out!

@cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA) Thank you!!! You are too kind!!! I missed you guys. It’s been an ordeal getting to this point with the house. The birds are good. I’ll add some photos of them in their new room.

@Beth H. : Thank you for the great inspiration! For Texas behmoth, do you mean the texas ebony? I planted him about 5 years ago at the rec. of the landscape architect. I think he is really beautiful. This is a steep slope with full sun. It’s hard to tell from the photos. I’m thinking another ebony to balance the one out, the mastic, yucca and agaves. I’d love to bring in the stuff behind the wall, but it needs shade. I could add more grasses, but the last ones got eaten by the rabbits. I’m trying to balance destruction by javelina, rabbits, and full sun. Do you think my plan will be okay? Will essenstially mimic this photo from to the right of the bougenvllas.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b Those are beauties! I will check that garden out. I bet it will give me some great ideas!

@Christopher CNC thank you! I will do it! You guys have given me the courage!

So nice to see you again rockybird. I have missed your house. I love MCM architecture.

I would get rid of them but that's just me I suspect. They just aren't playing well with the rest of your garden and they don't seem to flow naturally within it either.

Okay, so I’m backing off from the mastic if I get rid of the bougenvillas. Maybe I can add in place of the bougenvillas:

Texas ebony

Tall yucca

Small saguaro cactus

Agaves, prickly pear

aloe hercules in shade

Plus one more tree? Chilean mesquite?

I think a couple large boulders would be good too

Last year we bought a rooted leaf of a prickly pear called ”Old Mexico” in San Diego and it could look great in place of your bougainvilleas. It has really big wavy thornless green leaves and gets wider than tall. In a year our leaf has grown to a small shrub and really looks great in our desert yard.

Wondering if Jerusalem Thorn would grow where you are? They're so pretty with wispy foliage and yellow flowers. I noticed there's one shown in the Huntington photos

I love them but prefer seeing them droop over a wall, not bushy or hedge like. Can they be cut back and then transplanted elsewhere on the property?

They just look kind of ugly, which is rare for Bougainvillea, so I would rip them out and move on.

The ones we had in LA where all growing against the house/fences and had trellises or wires to allow them to grow vertical.

Can you grow Sticks of Fire (Euphorbia tirucalli) and Lady's Slipper (Pedilanthus macrocarpus)? We also had those in LA and they were hardy succulents that did well with very little care.

I am having to get used to all new plant types now that we live in FL!

edit: went back and looked at your photos again. Looks like you have a large sticks of fire in the patio. It looks very green, with little of the red/orange color. Is it mostly in the shade?

Thanks everyone! @chispa I didnt show photos of everythig. I do have lots of lady slippers and firesticks. I think the lady slippers like shade. I think I am going to get rid of the bougenvillia. My only regret is that so many birds sleep in it and take refuge from the heat.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b Wow! That is beautiful!! I bet it would grow here if it grows in Israel, as similar climates. I will take a look!

@decoenthusiaste I’m pretty sure they will die. They have been here for many many years, so I don’t think they will survive a transfer. I wish they would though!

@mojavemaria wow! That’s a beauty! I will definitely look for it. I love how green it is!

I ran out to a couple nurserys before they closed.

Here is a mature mastic. They can also be shaped into a bush or a ball. I may get one to put where the smaller bougenvilla is in hopes that it will give some shade for the birds. Any other new trees are going to take a long time to grow. I really feel bad for the birds.

Mature mastic tree:

The one i have tagged:

Also took photos of these at my favorite nursery:

Still trying to save at least one of the bougainvillea! You mentioned boulders...after a severe pruning?

@olychick That's a great thought! I will ask the landscapers if we can do this. I would have called this this AM, but I got sick with food poisoning last night and this AM. Feeling better now thank goodness! I love that yard by the way! I would like something similar for that area.

Oh, so sorry about food poisoning! Did you poison yourself or did someone else poison you? It's not fun, for sure. Hope you feel better. Yay for reconsidering the bougainvillea!

@olychick Much better! Thanks! I ate some food from a popular grocery chain for lunch and dinner yesterday. I woke up last night very nauseous. By morning I was throwing up, but then I started to improve! I still have some body aches, but I can hold food down and I actually came into work this afternoon. I'm so glad this didn't go the way of my typical food poisoning where I'm flat on delirious on the bathroom floor and eventually on an uber to the ER. I seem to get really sick with food poisoning every couple years. :(

Oh my, feel better!

Thanks everyone for all the advice! I took out both giant bushes, but @olychick I left one bougainvillea! I couldnt bear to remove it as the wild birds ove it. The landscapers I hired were terrible! They did not finish the job. All they did was remove one bush and a couple dead plants. They were terrible. Luckily the nursery that came out planted everything and removed the other bush. The mastic was just too big and didnt fit the landscape so the nursery took it back. They did an amazing job planting things.

I will add some fillers in between the plants but I’m waiting for it to cool down. Now I just need to find a new mailbox!

I always love seeing your updates, Rockybird! So glad you decided to save one of the existing bushes. It all looks wonderful!

I'm glad you kept one bougainvillea for the birds and the color. Your larger trees are balanced well and the tall palm is fabulous, so probably no need for any other large trees. You have a great mix of textures that blend well together. I love the second to last plant, name? Can't wait to see what you choose for a mailbox!

Thank you @Kswl :)

Thanks @gigi4321 The plant is Euphorbia royleana. I have a bunch of them. I love them. They look so happy!

I didn't see this earlier, but I'm glad you kept at least one bouganvilla. I was going to suggest feeding them - that is supposed to help them bloom. Good luck with your trees. Not ones familiar to the Gulf Coast.

Oh, it looks so wonderful! I love the color of the bougainvillea and am so happy you kept one :-) Fabulous mix of shapes, textures and colors. You work fast! I couldn't imagine planting things in the desert in August!