A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Help S. Calfornia

I have two questions in one

Bougainvillea--
Okay, I know this can be done because come spring, the bougainvillea in the LA area is EVERYWHERE!
Last year I bought a small bougainvillea and planted it next to my chain link fence in full sun. Unfortunately the careless gardeners (lawn mowers) chopped it up until I put a little border around it. It has recovered from the poor little skeleton that they reduced it to and is now flowering, but is hasn't gotten any bigger at all! Any suggestions? Please keep in mind that I'm (obviously) a newbie!

Sunflowers
My husband loved the sunflower that I grew last year and urged me to plant new ones (intentionally) this year.
So I got-
Ferry-Morse sunflowers in Double Sun Gold, Red Sun and a couple of others. I planted them in full sun on the side of the house and they are growing like weeds which is nice. They are about 6 - 9 inches tall and the leaves are so large and the stems thinner that they seem to be drooping. Is there anything I can do to help? I would rather have them grow UP rather than UP and OUT. Last year they ended up partially blocking my walkway and I would like to get as much upward growth now before they start to do the same.

Thank you to ALL on this forum

Bougainvillea is a slow starter. It should take off by the end of this summer and you will see improvement in growth. Feeding helps too. They will tend to lose all or most of their leaves in winter and slow their growth down then.
Sunflowers grow tallest and strongest with as much sunlight as possible. If they have to lean to find the sun they will. Too much shade and they will get wimpy stems. And maybe stunted flowers.