New Southeast Asian Garden Ideas

I'd like to thank my aunt and uncle for taking these great pictures from their travels in Southeast Asia!  Of course their photos provide the perfect sources of inspiration for my garden project... First, here are some garden shots:
Southeast Asian architecture combines local, Indian, Chinese, Colonial and modern styles just as beautifully as in the food of the region!

Note the combination of dark wood and white walls.  The dark woods are rich and earthy with a sense of mystery while the white is spacious
and open, lending a clean and formal feeling.

Check out those dracaenas!  The overhangs are a functional way to extend the living space outdoors by providing some dry shade, and it also keeps moisture away from the building.  This is a common feature in vernacular tropical architecture.

Just look at the juxtaposition of East and West!  The formal European fountain should be completely at odds with the building, but doesn't it look great?

Here are some essential elements of a Southeast asian courtyard garden: An urn with a plumeria, a daybed, and plenty of paving.

So here are my plans right now for my own Southeast Asian garden.

-  I bought some unfinished birdhouses from a craft store and I'm going to meticulously detail them with traditional balinese motifs, add some carved trim, stain them with a rich teak finish and then weatherproof them.  I will then cover the roof with thatch made from radicalis fronds (in Mexico they harvest radicalis palms for this use).  Lastly I'll perch them on my bamboo poles in the courtyard area!  They'll resemble the thatch roofed lanterns in Balinese gardens but be functional birdhouses as well!  I'm sure the birds will use the thatch for their nests though...
 
-  I'm also going to make a Thai cooking garden in front of the courtyard.  I'm going to border it with evergreen agapanthus to lend formality, but then plant a combination of purple and lemon basil, ginger root, peppers, lemongrass and turmeric.  I plan on making it ornamental as well as edible, and the purple basil will tie in nicely with similarly colored bromeliads and ornamental sweet potato vine.  I may also add a lychee tree separately in the front yard since my coworker told me her neighbor has one that bears fruit every year despite the cold.  Maybe a pineapple too?  Then I can plant my surinam cherry and dragonfruit seedlings when they get bigger... I'm getting carried away, so I'll close with another of my aunt and uncles pictures of a produce stand.  Yum!