All lantana looks bad this time of year. Chop it down & it will grow back nice & healthy.
Bougainvilla will get big, it gets tall & wide but is a pain with the thorns, might die back for you (usually doesn't on the island but not sure about the mainland).

We ain't good at etiquette!!

With all that sun you can put in so much stuff. What about oleanders? You can put them in the ground, they will spread out to cover, not too tall so you don't have to worry about the power lines, not really bothered by any pests & they bloom. Yeah, they are toxic but there has NEVER been a single accidental ingestion that resulted in death, even in animals. The things just taste too bad.

Gingers, hibiscus, elephant ears, cupheas (one of my favorites) and so much more!!
Come to the Galveston Co. Plant trade, usually in April.
Tally HO!

I would recommend the hibiscus. I had very good luck growing them when I lived in Pearland. Rose of Sharon would be pretty also.

I vote for native lantana plants. Two of them would easily fill an eight foot area, giving you a butterfly extravaganza for their entire blooming season (at least six months here in the Austin area.) We cut ours to the ground and mulch heavily after they freeze in December. Just saw a bit of green peeking through the mulch today...

I love butterfly bushes. They flower all summer long up till frost for me way up here near Dallas.

Yellow bells are easy no water once established, tall bush with a million flowers on it.

For containers I'm going to try dautra, I've seen them in pots and the flowers are beautiful, big plant, comes in white, purple/white although the purple n whites are hard to find.

While the lantana will spread to fill this area it would not be my first choice. This close to the coast it has a tendency to get leggy and straggly. It spends most of the summer in a semi-dormant state in my yard & looks awful for that period of time. Not to mention I am forever pulling the seedlings out of every part of my yard. But it is tough, I've been trying to kill one bush for several years now.
Tally HO!

Beachplant,
Your experience with lantana largely mimics mine.

All,
I very much appreciate your suggestions.
Thank you.