Heres another shot of the garden

This post was edited by Reese87 on Fri, May 23, 14 at 18:35

Being too far removed from your zone, I can't offer anything regarding tropical/tropical looking plants.

On first glance at your pictures, though, it seems all the planting is in a line - you can't get lush depth that way. I googled the images for tropical gardens and came away with the idea that most were very carefully planned "accidents" - which is no doubt the look you're trying to achieve. Mixtures of shape, texture, color all being layered with good effect.

Here is a link that might be useful: tropical garden images

Hi, I viewed your garden carefully and it doesn't look really bad. I even like the big space you have there. I think, it will only need a touch of creativity putting some colorful plants and flowers around to have more impact or rather be like more of a tropical paradise. Goodluck! I know you will be able to have a better one.

You have some great plants as a backbone. I used to live in your zone and one of the first things I did was establish a "living fence" with star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). It will need strong support such as lattice but you will have an evergreen background for your tropicals with a delightful fragrance when it blooms. Once established, I pruned it heavily once a year to keep it vertical and contained.
Good luck!

If adding plants I would add more multiples for color (canna, hibiscus), height, and texture. Remember the rule of planting in odd-numbered triangles to add depth ((3-5-7-9). Perhaps a dwarf lily of the nile (agapanthus "Peter Pan") woven throughout will provide a low-maintenance filler.