Welcome SoCalDawg!!
What I've found down here where it is never cold, is that some types of plumeria lose their leaves no matter what. Others hold them but don't grow new leaves and yet others will bloom a little all winter. So, you could still end up with sticks for a month or two, but the "stick season" is much shorter where it is warm. I think the key to using them in the landscape is to have other shorter plants in front of them so they blend in during the winter. Once they leaf out in the spring they will rise above their surroundings and become the star.
