A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Help in Southern California

I live in the Los Angeles area and every year there are beautiful Bougainvillea(sp?)everywhere. Someone told me that there is another plant that looks similar, but they did not know the name. Has anyone heard of it?

Welcome, also from Southern California, Inland Empire area. Bougainvillea is gorgeous, isn't it? But not a favorite of mine because of its thorns.
There are many other flowering vines but none similar to bougainvillea that I know of with the masses of color over a long season. Can you describe anything about what you might be looking for?

I noticed yesterday that it seems to be either bush or tree-like with masses of fuschia blooms. Driving by, one had a trunk with blossoms up top, while the other was more of a bush with the blossoms starting at the ground level.

Thanks! I'm reluctant to just go poking in strangers' yards and havent come across one that I could photograph easily from the street.

Bushes flowering right now could be something like oleander? Those are shrubs that are sometimes trimmed to tree-like. If you have a picture that would help a lot.

I will try to get a picture this weekend. If it helps it looks just like Bougainvillea. One had a pretty big trunk others I've seen just look like a bush.