Citrus trees planted close should work for you. They will grow thick, are evergreen and have colorful fruit and wondeful smelling flowers. Hibiscus should work for you too, but won't grow quite as thick. Overall it's hard to beat oleander when it comes to hardieness and utility. I know we hear a lot about Oleander being toxic, but in the many years I've lived in Phoenix(which is filled with Oleander), I have never heard of a human being killed from it. Horses are another story, they are just plain stupid and furthermore don't have the ability to upchuck poisons like humans do.

A couple of years ago (or less) there was a report in Southern California of two adopted boys from Eastern Europe dying from Oleander poisoning. I wish I could be more specific. This was a media report, not a word-of-mouth thing.

Using the words oleander adopted and death - I found what appears to be a legitimate report from 2000:

Alexei Wiltsey, 2, and his 3-year-old brother, Peter, were
found dead in their cribs at their El Segundo home. Lab
tests confirmed they died of oleander toxicity; the chem-
ical oleandrian in the popular garden plant causes the
heart to stop beating.

The boys' mother, Shirley Wiltsey, said she found the
boys chewing oleander leaves a few days before they
died and noticed they had picked some again the night
of their deaths. She and husband Tom adopted the boys
last August from an orphanage in Siberia.

Note that daffodils, azaleas, rhododendrons, lily of the valley, foxglove and ... a long list of common plants are toxic.

The moral is keep an eye on the kids and don't let then chew the bushes.

Crape Myrtle is an attractive flowering shrub that does well out here but it doesn't provide quite as dense of a privacy fence. It does very well in CA (even in the Sacramento Valley where I'm at) with minimal maintenance and has been blooming most of the summer.

I'm not sure what zone you are in, but here in Tucson we use green hopbush for a nice full hedge. Would nandina or bamboo work? Look around the neighborhood and shopping malls to see what grows well there. Good luck. Virginia

I am a new gardener, so I'm giving you hearsay. I've also been looking for a good thick tall hedge. My problem is heat and reflected heat. Nandina-bamboo-was recommended, and was doing pretty well until our (Queen Creek, AZ) heat kicked in. I replaced it with hedge rosemary, which I've seen as a short hedge, but I was told it could be a tall hedge. I'm trying it, and so far it's alive, so I'm happy. Pyracantha has very pretty berries (not poisonous) all year and grows very dense. It was my first choice, but I was trying to grow it on a west-facing wall and it died. Good luck!

I saw some beautiful Azaleas in Simi Valley. It's kind of dry and doesn't freeze. If you put up a frame they can't be seen through and are beautiful.PJ

That oleander is indeed highly toxic in raw form and there have been a handful of reported deaths due to accidental ingestion. I would absolutely NOT recommend tasting it yourself, as it only takes a small amount to be fatal!

However, did you know that the oleander plant is the source of a patented medicine used outside the US and a home remedy version anyone can make that some, including myself, believe are some of the most potent cancer fighters and immune boosters on the planet?

Oleander has a history of medicinal use that dates back at least 3500 years to the ancient Mesopotamians and Babylonians and was used as far back as the 8th century BC by arab doctors as a treatment for cancer.

In modern times, it has been used the pat 40 years in Turkey in a form that was later patented and has passed US FDA Phase I trials (but languishes now for lack of the $200 Million in funding need to take a product all the way through trials and to market). The patented medicine is currently made in Honduras and can be imported into the US under FDA exceptions rules.

Oleander extract is also the major component of a botanical mixture which has been used the past three years in South Africa with amazing success to combat cancer and HIV/AIDS, where it has had remarkable success in healing cancers and reversing HIV symptoms - even in very late stages. To date, over 80 cancer patients and over 350 HIV/AIDS patients have used the oleander and all but 8 are alive and doing well (of the 8, 5 were too far gone at the beginning and another three succumbed to major organ failure as a likely result of chemo and/or radiation treatments).

Oleander also has been shown to eliminate or greatly relieve virtually all known side effects of chemo and radiation, including hair loss!

No doubt part of this is due in no small part to the fact that oleander was tested in Europe in 1986-87 and found to have six times the immunes stimulating activity of the most powerful patented immune stimulators known to man.

And how do I now all this? I researched and wrote a book about it!

Live long, live healthy, live happy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cancer's Natural Enemy

Getting back to your original request, I would recommend Arizona Rosewood, also called California Rosewood (Vauquelinia Californica). It looks a bit like Oleander but not toxic. It has beautiful white flowers but they don't bloom as long as oleanders. They are very drought tolerant once established.
Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) are indeed beautiful and fill your flowering requirement, but get terrible fungus near the coast. Good luck. dl

However, the early indications of HIV will often be confused with the indications of winter flu or not so intense viral infection.

Here is a link that might be useful: Early Symptoms of HIV in Men