Many of those you listed aren't drought tolerant. Banana plants, for instance. If you are thinking of doing hardly any watering after establishment then you will have to trim your list, plant only Mediterranean and other specifically drought adapted plants.

Full Sun......bougainvillea and full sun bromeliads

Drought tolerate succulents.

Either paint all the stucco white or gray.

Randy Landscape Remodel Mission Hills - Front Yard · More Info

or

bougainvillea and full sun bromeliads

Unlike Oakland, California Florida has copious summer rainfall and high humidity with the annual precipitation curve just about the exact opposite of what we have here on the Pacific Coast. Even in "rainy" Seattle the curve bottoms out in July and August so that right in the middle of the growing season it is very dry. Whereas Florida plantings may often be getting feet of rain from tropical storms at that same time.

the succulents that celery listed would be perfect in your space. A lot of them can be planted from cuttings from neighbors. I did that w/our xeriscape on a rental that we have.

They've grown in like crazy in the past few years.

bring in some colorful planters, black mulch and hardscape, like big rocks and pavers.

Your home reminds me of this one!

make sure you keep all of that wood varnished w/UV clear coat or oil. I really like the wood tone w/the dark colors and look of the house

"Tropical" and "drought tolerant" tend to be more or less mutually exclusive. Most tropical plants originate from areas with plentiful to heavy rainfall.....eg. jungles.

Leave any one of those drought tolerant plants in all the pictures that followed out in freezing temperatures and then tell me again they are not tropical plants. There is a huge flora in the dry tropics of planet earth.

Granted, the word tropical does bring to mind the tropical rain forest and drought tolerant makes you think desert, but the truth is the dry tropics can be quite lush working in the same wet dry cycles that California has.

Some things on her list were not xeric plants for sure and the azalea and forsythia on the list stuck out like some weird anomaly of the mind.

And if you want bougainvillea to bloom you better keep it on the very dry side in a well drained soil in the baking sun. They hate too much water. Bougainvillea is not a tropical rain forest plant. It comes from the dry tropics.

Thank you so much for the super quick feedback!

@Embothrium and @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) totally with you on the drought tolerant piece. It's mostly wishful thinking. I see a lot of these plants around the neighborhoods but clearly don't know how much maintenance it all takes! I dont want anything that will require too much maintenance or water.

@BeverlyFLADeziner LOVE the suggestions! The plants give a "tropical" vibe because of all the colors. I especially like the look

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images sooo many great ideas! Question about the photo below: would you also recommend i replicate the same thing against the house? Could i also pair that with some plants that flower, to add some nice color? I love the simplicity of it but trying to figure out how to jazz it up a lil bit with color!

@Beth H. : Thanks you for the advice. Where would you recommend I place the planters? would they go well directly against the house? or on top of the garage? I'm curious!

@Christopher CNC you seem to know a lot about plants. From my list.. let's say i had to pick 5 that i would plant in drifts and that grow nicely together... which ones would you recommend?

Christopher, I don't want to pick nits but when clients say they want a "tropical look" what they are looking for are big leaved, exotic flowered plants that grow in hot, humid environments that receive plentiful rainfall. Bananas, gingers, orchids and bromeliads, hibiscus, banyans.....what many of us grow as houseplants. Yes, there are dry area tropicals but they are much less showy and far fewer in number, as dry areas surrounding the equator - the definition of 'tropical' - are few and far between.

btw, there are a great many desert/dry area succulents - like what are illustrated in the photos - that are plenty cold tolerant and can withstand below freezing temps and even snow!! I know this because I grow a bunch of 'em :-)

Living in CA, what the OP needs and should be planting are very xeric or drought tolerant plants. Rainfall is NOT plentiful at any time, humidity is low and watering is often restricted. As mentioned previously, Mediterranean plants should be the focus, as they will share virtually identical climate conditions to the OP.

A bougainvillea can be trained above the garage to stay below the deck railing.

Pygmy date palm - Phoenix roebellini

Bird of Paridise - Strelitzia reginae

Lily of de Nile - Agapanthus

Agave attenuata

New Zealand Flax - Phormium

Bromeliads for filler.

These will give you a more leafy jungle look without being water hogs.

gardengal, the tropics extend from the equator to the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and a touch beyond which includes a great many dry or seasonally dry ecosystems with exceptionally showy plants. I already admitted the word tropical tends to connote the big leafy jungle look, but you can have your tropical and xeric too. Hence the plant list I suggested for Dori. Yes there are a few cold hardy succulents out there. Here is some dry showy, Cochlospermum vitifolium 'Flore Pleno'.

Dori, I think you could use the pots in the tiers, along w/colorful rocks and coordinating succulents...kind of like this

see this rock? get a few of those to use in the tiers.

maybe try a design like these dry beds,

some of the smaller pots are also used in and out

closer to the house:

It was just an idea, you can plant what you like, flowers, different scrubs...etc. Beth gave you nice ideas of colors to incorporate in.

@Beth H. :that's super thorough. Thank you so much for taking the time to offer these great ideas!