Garden Tour: It’s Always Spring in This Guatemalan Paradise
A landscape architect’s tropical garden dazzles with colorful flowers, rare peacocks, parrots and toucans
Landscape architect Edgar Rolando Rossal Chávez says it best when describing why his garden in Guatemala City is something special: “I got the chance to re-create a little bit of paradise, like I used to admire in Walt Disney classics. It’s a place where everything is perfectly balanced and beautiful, where plants and animals live together in complete harmony. I like its bright colors, and my birds are like walking flowers.”
The sight of a white peacock strutting casually across the path, or a cockatoo swooping down from a tree branch, amazes visitors to Rossal’s garden. Dramatic plants like flame trees (Delonix regia), jade vines (Strongylodon macrobotrys) and a large collection of bromeliads (Bromeliaceae spp.) add to the magical effect.
The sight of a white peacock strutting casually across the path, or a cockatoo swooping down from a tree branch, amazes visitors to Rossal’s garden. Dramatic plants like flame trees (Delonix regia), jade vines (Strongylodon macrobotrys) and a large collection of bromeliads (Bromeliaceae spp.) add to the magical effect.
“I’ve lived in this garden since I was a child,” Rossal says. “My family bought this house when I was 7 years old. We rented it out for some time and lived in another house with a bigger garden. Luckily, one day my parents chose to move back here. That was the moment when I started gardening seriously. I’ve always been crazy about gardening, from an early age. Now I’m sorry I haven’t kept pictures of my other homes because I always had a lot of enthusiasm for gardening.”
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Rossal now lives here with his mother and cares for his garden every day — including weekends — year-round.
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Shop for lawn and garden products on Houzz
Unlike seasonal gardens that go dormant in winter, this tropical paradise is always active and needs to be regularly irrigated, pruned and raked to remove dry flowers and leaves.
The immaculate green carpet is made up of hardy Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). In more northern latitudes, this species dries out and disappears over winter, as it is very sensitive to the cold. In warmer climates like Guatemala’s, however, it lasts through the year.
The smooth sea of blue-green grass is interrupted by islands of exotic flowers, such as these yesterday-today-and-tomorrow shrubs (Brunfelsia pauciflora), which dominate the garden.
White and blue Indian peacocks are the garden’s biggest draws.
“They sleep in trees. They’ve always been my favorite birds,” Rossal says.
He got his first peacock when he was 15 and has been living with these birds ever since.
“They sleep in trees. They’ve always been my favorite birds,” Rossal says.
He got his first peacock when he was 15 and has been living with these birds ever since.
Rossal feeds the birds high-protein birdseed and gives them water with soluble electrolytes and antibiotics from time to time.
This is a rare and valuable leucistic peacock, which is born yellow and turns white. Unlike albino animals, leucistic peacocks retain their normal eye color.
This is a rare and valuable leucistic peacock, which is born yellow and turns white. Unlike albino animals, leucistic peacocks retain their normal eye color.
A peacock’s train consists of 150 to 200 feathers, each with an eyespot.
Male peacocks show off this train during mating displays, shaking it to create a low-frequency sound that is inaudible to humans but attractive to potential mates.
This leucistic Indian peacock (Pavo cristatus) walks among grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum).
These majestic birds share the garden with macaws, parrots and cockatoos.
This Amazon parrot sits on a birdlike hanging lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata).
This Amazon parrot sits on a birdlike hanging lobster claw (Heliconia rostrata).
Scarlet macaws (Ara macao) are large parrots with brilliantly colored plumage.
They also have powerful beaks and long tails.
A toucan (Ramphastos toco) likewise adds to the garden’s magic with its long beak, bright colors and gentle spirit.
Birds and flowers live harmoniously and echo one another in Rossal’s garden. This plant, for example, is the Guatemalan bird of paradise (Heliconia subulata).
Though Rossal loves many of his plants, his favorite is Strongylodon macrobotrys, commonly known as jade vine. “I like it for its turquoise-green color and because its inflorescences can grow to be more than [3 feet] long. The plant comes from an island in the Philippines and is considered to be one of the most exotic tropical lianas [woody tropical vines] in the world. I have many trees that I like, and all of them have been chosen for their spectacular inflorescences,” says Rossal, specifically citing the flame tree, tabebuia (Tabebuia chrysantha) and crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica).
This garden is a labor of love. Rossal planted the flame tree with the help of his son and father after a trip to the coast. The work of three generations was invested into the beautiful tree.
Though Rossal loves many of his plants, his favorite is Strongylodon macrobotrys, commonly known as jade vine. “I like it for its turquoise-green color and because its inflorescences can grow to be more than [3 feet] long. The plant comes from an island in the Philippines and is considered to be one of the most exotic tropical lianas [woody tropical vines] in the world. I have many trees that I like, and all of them have been chosen for their spectacular inflorescences,” says Rossal, specifically citing the flame tree, tabebuia (Tabebuia chrysantha) and crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica).
This garden is a labor of love. Rossal planted the flame tree with the help of his son and father after a trip to the coast. The work of three generations was invested into the beautiful tree.
The bottle palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis) gets its name from the shape of its stem.
African lilies (Agapanthus africanus)
Rossal loves tropical shapes and colors, which is evident in the mix of flora and fauna in his garden.
He uses pesticides only in exceptional circumstances. The garden rarely needs insecticides, and pests and diseases tend to target just a few specific plants.
He uses pesticides only in exceptional circumstances. The garden rarely needs insecticides, and pests and diseases tend to target just a few specific plants.
Bird’s-nest fern (Asplenium nidus), left foreground; blushing bromeliad (Neoregelia carolinae), right foreground; and, behind them, the arrow-like flower stalks of flaming sword (Vriesia splendens)
An Indian blue peacock (Pavo cristatus) peeks out from behind Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum maximum).
The bromeliad family includes epiphytic and lithophytic plants — that is, plants that root in tree branches and rocks, respectively, rather than soil. They take their nutrients from water or the debris of other plants (falling leaves, for example) that collects in the hollow formed by their leaves.
Their bright colors attract pollinators like hummingbirds, bats or moths.
Bromeliads: The Ultimate Collector’s Plants
Their bright colors attract pollinators like hummingbirds, bats or moths.
Bromeliads: The Ultimate Collector’s Plants
Blushing bromeliad
Rossal fixes the bromeliads to dry trunks with wire, covering their roots with coconut fiber to maintain humidity.
Rossal fixes the bromeliads to dry trunks with wire, covering their roots with coconut fiber to maintain humidity.
Scarlet star (Guzmania lingulata)
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Lay of the Landscape: Tropical Garden Style
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Lay of the Landscape: Tropical Garden Style
Find a landscape contractor near you
Browse live plants in the Houzz Shop
Who lives here: Landscape architect and interior designer Edgar Rolando Rossal Chávez and his mother, who share the garden with his peacocks and other birds
Location: Guatemala City
Size: A quarter-acre (1,000 square meters)