Palm trees tower in the back yard. Gray-green staghorn ferns reach out from their perches on rock columns. Orchids punctuate the green landscape with stunning fuchsia, yellow and white blooms. Cleo, a 9-foot boa constrictor, adds to the authenticity of the jungle setting. Cleo spends part of her time slithering among the plants, the rest in a pet carrier near a secondary pond.
Smaller snakes peer out from aquariums on the patio.
Dossmann began his tropical project when a friend suggested that he do something besides mow his lawn every week. But he put pencil to paper, creating a plan, then building a model of the lush landscape. Then, he began collecting rocks from his family's ranch in Bandera. After a year and a half of digging, planting and placing rocks, the tropical garden blossomed. And not a blade of grass remains.