Nice bench. I am still trying to decide on a design and I might steal a few ideas from yours.
If you don't mind me asking, as Yakima has rather similar weather to Aurora (at least right now, similar temps but your humidity is lower), how long you have had your tropical trees outside? I've been hesitant to move my umbrella's outside as the nighttime lows have just started staying above about 50F, but I think they could really benefit from the additional light.