The upcoming DCMGA Garden Tour on May 9 will feature seven beautiful gardens, including the garden of Johan Salvador Tavares, as one of the stops on this year’s tour.

An amazing paradise garden of tropical plants awaits visitors to the garden of Johan Salvador Tavares (Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2025) and his husband Todd Mobley.

Although Johan and Todd have always been lovers of plants, two trips to the enchanting jungles of Costa Rica, in 2019 and 2020, elevated their interest to the level of a consuming mania.  Smitten by the allure of the rainforest, they returned home inspired to create their own tropical Eden in their Oak Cliff back yard and have not looked back since.

To say that Johan and Todd are passionate about tropical plants is a gross understatement.  The pair have given over their entire back yard to creating an oasis-like collection of plants, 99% of which are in containers.  Keeping the plants in pots enables them to provide winter shelter to all of their plants in the four greenhouses that they have designed and constructed in the yard.

Just how many plants are there?  Johan guesses the number is between 500 and 600, and that includes a prized Bougainvillea and five large tropical Hibiscus bushes, which are among the relatively few plants actually planted in the ground.  It was expressly in order to preserve these particular favorites that the gardeners created the greenhouses which allow them to preserve their tropical collection from year to year.  The two largest greenhouses are disassembled and stored away every spring (and therefore not visible during the spring garden tour) to enable the annual transformation of the

backyard into a garden when the plants are liberated from their winter homes.

Among the few non-portable plants in the garden are vines that grow on pergola-like structures on both the north and south fences.  The north side supports a variety of vines, including Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora), Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus), Passionflower (Passiflora sp.), and Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit), while the south side hosts gigantic Wisteria vines that put forth a dramatic blanket of purple blossoms in spring.

With over 500 plants in their collection representing almost a hundred different species, Johan aptly uses the term “maximalist” to describe their approach to the plant collection, which includes exotics such as a Rhapis Palm and a Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) as well as the extravagant giant leaves of a Philodendron selloum and the sculptural form of a double-trunked succulent Pencil Cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli).

These gardeners surely have the greenest thumbs on the block, for they handily propagate new plants not only from seed but also frugally use the clippings from routine pruning that would otherwise be discarded.  One of the four greenhouses is dedicated to this purpose.

Lavishing as much effort and resources on their plants as they do, the couple enjoy entertaining in their garden frequently in good weather.  A large circular seating area anchors the center of the yard, and hidden in a back corner is a bar with a cantina-like vibe.  The bar is shaded by a vine-covered roof and complemented by tall climbing roses, while trickling faux waterfalls flanking each end of the bar add a whimsical touch.  The garden even boasts an outdoor projector and screen for enjoying movies alfresco.

Johan says that the greatest pleasure in this garden comes from its constant transformation, as tropicals are renowned as fast growers.  Since almost all of the plants in this garden are in containers, they can be moved from one spot to another until he discovers the exact best placement for each one.  Thus, the design of the garden can be constantly evolved for maximum effectiveness of the location of each plant.

Come and explore this lush garden where more…is always more!

Click here for more information on the featured gardens and to purchase tickets to this year’s garden tour.