It's in the Details: Creating a Tropical Paradise

Blend Elements for a Backyard Bali

Combine large, lush leaves with bold, bright flowers. Use details—exotic art, furnishings, misters, tiki lamps, candles—to enhance the tropical mood.

• Hardscape. Black Buckingham slate (not blond flagstone) makes a pool look Hawaiian.
• Foliage. Mix delicate leaves (black locust, jacaranda, silk tree) with bold leaves (goldenrain tree, palms, Southern magnolia). Understory: bananas, bear’s breech, honey bush, ligularia among ferns, lily turf, grasses, ti plants.
• Flowers. Vivid hues attract pollinators: cannas, dahlias, shell ginger, angel’s trumpet, hibiscus, plumeria, shrimp plant; vines: bougainvillea, mandevilla, passion vine; tender perennials: abutilon, impatiens.
• Thatch. Palm thatching—umbrella over table or roof over Balinese pavilion.
• Fencing. Bamboo poles instead of chain-link.
• Lighting. Hide lights in Indonesian lanterns, spirit houses; tiki lamps for atmospheric night light.
• Mist. Resort misting system or soaker hose among river rock for jungle-shower atmosphere.
• Statuary. Hindu immortals (Ganesha, Hanuman), Buddha, or tiki.
• Cushions. Bright solids or exotic prints (Hawaiian botanicals, Javanese batiks).
• Candles. Cluster chunky candles of different heights.
• Floating flowers. Shallow bowls with water and fragrant plumeria or gardenia.