have you looked at gardens in the Balinese/Thailand styles? I have seen some gardens in this vein that had minimalist elements but used tropical plants... I think the way you can combine lushness and minimalism (I'm thinking more along modern lines than Japanese however) is to use lots of the same plant together in a large swath of color. Also plant smaller plants in front, larger plants in back. Think color - I have noticed modern garden design using chartreuse, purple etc. but on a large scale. Take only a few architectural type plants as focal points and plant smaller colorful plants around them. Japanese gardens tend to be very structured and architectural, tropical gardens can be the same way, but you need to choose plants that function the same way. Bamboo is great to use, since you can use it in tropical or japanese gardens. Also I don't know where you live, but using succulents in combination can also give you the architectural look.

Hi, I live in Mandurah WA and wanted to do the same thing. I found this artilce yesterday which has some good ideas, the best being look out for tropical looking plants that do well in your area. Things like windmill plams, Chinese fan palms, Strelitzias, Dianella, clivia, Agapanthus, citrus trees, oleander, yucca, agave and native frangipani. Remember they need to be able to cope with the cooler temps as well as dry conditions. A pot of water lilies is also a must for a bali garden. http://organicgardening.inmysanctuary.net/wordpress/2013/01/pond-in-a-pot/ Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: [Hawaiian islands style garden[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/8-take-home-planting-ideas-from-hawaiis-big-island-stsetivw-vs~7532401)

I’m sure you’ve well been your project by now, but since the topic has been resurrected.... lol. Interesting question. I think it could be done very nicely, with a little research and some good taste. Think British colonial. The marriage of Victorian and jungle. Unique, but lush and very beautiful in its own way. Coleus and palms are two of the plants beloved by Victorians, but typically “tropical” in nature. There are many others. Some were always kept in conservatories, but the annuals and hardier plants would have been mixed into the gardens. You could do an entire mixture throughout, or only a blending around the outskirts of your “English Garden,” to help the two flow into each other. and, as Beverly mentioned, there are some plants that appear tropical, but are only viable in cold winter areas, thus proving that the lush growth and large leaves of tropical plants can blend nicely and naturally with more typically cold hardy varieties.

I have decided what I am going to do. I cleared the entire area bare and we are painting just the courtyard tomorrow in white. I'll be painting the entire house in another month or two, but can't let the jasmine grow on the yellow walls now, so....then Sunday drilling all the holes for the diamond shapes on the solid walls and stringing it with the metal wire. the photo I posted below is a quick mock up, but I am putting window boxes with some kind of small fragrant flowers on each window. Under the windows into the corners we will plant podocarpus hedges that we will box shape into the corners and half moon the front. podocarpus has a nice texture to it. In front of the podocarpus some fragrant flowers of some sort. This will be on both sides. On the opposite corners near the gate side we will plant the gardenia Bush in the corners and the large urns flanking the gate that will have the hibiscus topiaries and flowers in the pots. Front walk we planted today the mexican heather. The fointain and bench will be centered on each side in center of courtyard. I'll find some fragrant flowers to put in front of the fountain and a few water lilies in the fountain. Flanking each bench a smaller pot of a ball topiary. Can I use gardenia there instead and keep it ball shaped or is that too hard? For back border where jasmine is and front border where mexican heather is we are putting rounded white rock. Where you see the half circles in my drawing we are doing polished black pebbles in the fountain and bench area. I am also painting the walkway in a dark graphite. So the entire theme will be black and white with pops of color in the accent flowers and the green of all the plants. My goal now is to find flowers that are very fragrant to line in front of the fountain on tje ground and also something that is fragrant in front of the podocarpus hedges. I would love for flowers that bloom at different times or are continuously blooming so we can have fragrance all year in the courtyard. any suggestions for that would be great. We are hoping to be done with this thing in 2 weeks.