Garden: Jungle boogie

In 2000, Jim and Barbara Pappas built their home on Longboat Key. Five years later, Gardening South Inc. turned the property’s landscape into a tamed jungle.

To create the tropical aesthetic, various types of palms, as well as, a plethora of colorful landscape plants and flowers were planted, including macho ferns, landscape begonias, fiddlewood, wild coffee, Mexican petunias and free-flowing dracaenas. You’ll also find various ixora, red-hot hibiscus and imperial blue plumbago.

The Pappases’ backyard also features an infinity pool overlooking Sarasota Bay and a tiki hut near the mangroves that runs along the north end of the property.