It looks like some varieties of red maple might work well. There appear to be varieties that are perfectly happy in florida, which have no chill requirements to break dormancy. Sugar maples, however probably wouldn't do particularly well. One article I found states that they require 2500 continuous hours of chill (below 41f) to break dormancy. Without that chill, they'd probably do well enough for a couple years, but eventually would either go dormant and not come out of it, or they'd just die from the stress of not being able to rest. Here is a link that might be useful: Top of page 3 references the lack of chill requirement for floridian acer rubrum

I think I'd rather deal with some cracking/sinking pavers now and then than to have to deal with potentially worse repercussions for doing the job "right." It seems to me the proper way to do a paver patio is only for certain property layouts and certain patio locations. My property was designed to direct rain runoff right past my back door, and the proposed paver patio would be in the flow's path. It's not going to get a lot of traffic... only light foot traffic, so I know that matters, too. I am wondering now, though, if excavation won't be a problem so long as I don't go lower than the excavated level of the existing concrete patio. That would give me at least a bit of depth to work with. Still, in the deep South, I have to wonder how much is truly necessary. It's not like it's going to heave with deep freezes every winter. [SHRUG] You bring up another concern I had, which was the sand washing out of the installation. I am not even sure how this isn't a given and something to be expected. I read that pavers can be installed on an existing concrete patio, something I was interested in doing to have the old and new areas match, but I was concerned because the recommendation was to put a layer of sand on the concrete patio. I immediately thought about the sand washing away over time.

A statue sounds nice. Do you have Michelia/Magnolia figos in Sydney? They have a delicious banana and vanilla scent. They are shrubs not trees and have nice evergreen leaves. Michelia/Magnolia alba can be kept smaller with pruning and it is my favorite scented plant of all time! Think lemon and gardenia. Strong and lovely but not cloying at all. I wish I could bottle it and sell it. I would be rich :) I keep mine in a pot. All the Michelia names have been changed to Magnolia somethings now but I still like to call them Michelias lol. Tea Olive is also a good scented plant that can be used formally. There is a yellow-er more fragrant tea olive variety called, Fudingzhu which is also supposed to flower much heavier. There is also an orange/reddish variety but I don't have that one. Nycanthes arbor-tristis aka Tree of Sorrow/Lover's Tree is a small jasmine-honey scented night blooming tree from India with a lovely legend to it. It drops its beautiful little flowers when the sun touches them in the morning. It is very drought tolerant once established. Also very easy to root. I think it would be lovely for a courtyard. Scented at night and cloudy days and lovely flowers cast about in the mornings. They are used around Buddist Temples.

i would say that you are too late for this year. everything i have read and what i stick to, is to graft when the rootstock/base tree is at bud break, or just after first leaves emerge. I have had wonderful success with whip and tongue grafts at this time. I tried two nectarines a little later than this (as the scions were shipped late to me), and they do not look like they are going to take. unless the rootstock and scion are of different size, i strongly recommend the whip and tongue graft. they key is getting as much of the cambium layer to line up as possible.