What are you looking for? I have ficus ben, rubber tree(big leaf kind), schefflera all are the variegated variety, I also have some Pride of Maderia, both variegated and non, I have Dragons Blood(draceana draco) and numerous palms. I had one variegated screw pine but I think it got too cold, now I'm without.

I guess this depends on where your boundaries of "botany" are. To me, genetics are naturally part of botany and I don't see how to separate the two. Botany incorporates all sorts of biological fields, and isn't limited to "traditional" "old school" botany, including nomenclature, identification, discovery, and taxonomy. Some of the greatest botanists I know are geneticists, horticulturalists, agriculturalists, microbiologists, and biochemists ;o)

I saw a photo of a church in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where they planted phormiums in rows that all lead to the front door. Try to immagine the door as being a focal point and the rows all came out from the focal point in an array that resembled sun rays. If you want really sculptural plants, you could try agave desmettiana varegata, or agave attenuata, both of which are user-friendly agaves and provide sculptural impact. Agave Desmettiana variegata stays to about three feet in diameter and thee feet tall. Agave Americana Medio-Picta Alba is another agave that comes to mind, although that one does have sharp spines. Strelitzia Juncea, like you already mentioned is a good plant for your purpose. I would stay away from grasses that grow tall and untidy. They can completely defeat your purpose of contemporary. The dwarf fescue grass, like someone suggested is good because it is rigid, not tall and wavy. Although most tropical plants evoke a jungle look, some can actually be very sculptural. If you have the space, a Phoenix Canariensis, or Dactylifera could serve your purpose. It could be a focal point and also serve as a vertical component to your yard, since a traditional tree would also take away from the formal, contemporary look. Others that come to mind are draceana draco, Yucca Guatemalensis, Cordyline Australis "red star", Dypsis Decipiens, Bismarckia Nobilis. These last three provide color throught their foliage, and the bismarckia, especially, gives great contrast to green foliage. Dypsis Decipiens has reds, yellows and oranges in the emerging fronds and the upper portion of the trunk. The phoenix species provide color when they drape themselves with bright yellow-orange inflorescents, then followed by large clusters of fruit (if the palm is female). If you could find a phoenix rupicola, they have red fruit instead of yellow, and they really stand out.

Hi Trevisan, You might want to repost your message to the Australian Gardening forum...