I've looked thru a ton of previous postings and I can't find anythig pertaining to my problem...

I am looking for a tree that looks tropical (or IS) that will stay green throughout Southern California winters (ha-ha!) and will be a good screen for a blinding white, plastic fence!

I need to screen the fence AND the neighbor's bedroom window! :O What is there that will stay green and full year round?

I would like to eventually plant trops under them in the shade...

I've ripped out the bananas that were there; they became too old and the stumps surrounded by pups looks crummy to me. There's no room to plant undergrowth w/ all those stumps! Not to mention the leaves get shredded by the smallest winds that always seem to whisper by...wimps.

I have giant birds at the other end, so I don't want more.

I was thinking of bamboo, but I'd prefer something w/ a rounder top. Magnolias don't seem right.

Palms seem too naked on their bottoms and will not grow for me in this backyard! I've tried all types...can't get them to make it. Except, of COURSE, the good ole Mexican Fan palm that is now about a billion feet tall! I swear, I'll have to install a red blinking light for aircraft... what good is all that green way up there?

What's a girl to do?