Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Kauai Garden #1

As gardeners Kim and I of course wanted to see some gardens during our week on Kauai.
The Na'Aina Kai Botanical Garden is well worth the visit. Although the garden is shown only through guided tours which are not my cup of tea, the variety of plants was wonderful to see. Our tour lasted around three hours with our guide talking pretty much non-stop. She was full of great info but it was also a bit overwhelming.

I was amazed to see cacti on a Hawaiian Island. Cacti in Hawaii? Really? I would never have guessed.




Our Kauai guidebook describes the garden as "240 acres including over 100 acres of a tropical hardwood plantation with nearly two dozen types of trees. In the heart of the property several theme gardens specialize in various types of plants, and throughout the gardens some 60 life-like bronze sculptures add a playful touch."






Orchid













Plumeria















From Hawaii.com; "Joyce and Ed Doty retired to Kauai from their ranch in Northern California in 1982. What was begun as a landscape project in their front yard has grown to 240 acres that have been developed into a myriad of diverse gardens, complete with one of the largest collections of bronze sculpture in the United States."

I could have done without most of the sculptures as they were of children. (what is it with me, not enjoying sculptures of children of all things? But I just don't.)

I did enjoy a few of the sculptures.












































Much of the garden was simply breathtaking.

What an undertaking by this couple. You really have to admire their hard work and dedication. The gardens were full of imagination and ingenuity.






The variety of plants was simply amazing. This is a silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa) or Monkey No Climb.

From Wikipedia: "It is resistant to drought and moderate cold. It grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and sometimes reaches more than 25 m in height. Its trunk is bottle-shaped, generally bulging in its lower third, measuring up to 2 m in girth. It is studded with thick conical prickles which serve to store water for dry times. In younger trees, the trunk is green due to its high chlorophyll content, which makes it capable of performing photosynthesis when leaves are absent; with age it turns to gray."




This is a flower from a Jade Vine. You can learn all about them at Tatyana's blog as she recently also visited Kauai.




We were fortunate to be able to view pairs of Laysan albatross close up. They are one of the largest seabirds seen in Hawaii with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet. They lay a single egg during the annual nesting season. Both parents take turns incubating the egg and feeding the chick.

Gorgeous, aren't they?






The newest themed garden is based on food; meals to be specific. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are including plants such as coffee, cocoa, lemon trees, you get the idea.


This statue has a trellis of honeysuckle growing behind it. Kind of cute, don't you think?







Next post I'll show you another garden on Kauai.

13 comments:

Dirt Princess said...

AMAZING!!!! That is unreal! I will have to add that to my list pf places to see next time I go back to Hawaii! I can't believe that a couple has done all of that. The thorny tree looks like a huge rose stem! Is that tuberose in the one photo? I love tuberose...it smells wonderful! When we were married there, they made The Hunters lai from tuberose blooms and leaves.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Thank you Victoria! You showed some parts of this garden which we didn't see. Since we were with kids, they put us into a group with a special route designed for parents with kids. We didn't like that! Can you imagine our "big" boys with bukets for picking up flowers and leaves, together with 2-4 y.o. girls? And we spent a lot of time on the garden's playground. I should admit that the boys liked the playground. BTW, we didn't see the Three Bears statue. I am looking forward to see your next post! Thank you for the link and for your comments on my blog!
Have a Healthy and Happy New Year!

our friend Ben said...

Wow, Victoria, this is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!!!

Laura Paine Carr said...

Beautiful photos... I especially am admiring the Jade, the Albatrosssss;-)
and you being kissed by a bear in Kauai! And I am with you on being uncomfortable (or something) with garden sculptures of children. Maybe I just don't like children being cast, or carved, or in cement. Weird, I know.

I like your blog quite a lot, and will be back often!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely vacation. So many gorgeous things to see! Thanks for sharing the pics. Also, if you really want to see what I am writing, I will be happy to share it with you. :-) Just drop me an email at CheaPet AT cox DOT net

Thanks again for showing the great pics!

Autumn Belle said...

I truly enjoyed the beautiful pictures that you have taken during your vacation in Hawaii. It seems like paradise. Some of the plants are very unique especially the turquoise coloured flower and tree bark with thorns. Happy New Year 2010!

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

What a great trip! Your photo of the plumeria against the blue sky is beautiful.

François said...

"Plumeria" en français on les appelle les "frangipanier" ce sont des fleurs que nous avions dans notre jardin lorsque nous habitions à Tahiti, des fleurs à couronnes ou à colliers que nous portions aux nouveaux arrivants du continent quand il se posait à l'aéroport de Faa'a, que de beaux souvenirs que ces moments merveilleux.
Bonne fin d'année et meilleurs voeux, bisous
François,

mmichele said...

Wow. What a feast for the eyes this and your last post was. Full time work has kinda sapped my creativity gene lately but this has made me want to get out the camera again and get some great photos on my blog.

Kathleen said...

What a wonderful garden to view on January 1st! This gets me excited about the New Year, much more than any snow post could! It really looks amazing Victoria ~ I hope I get there someday.

garden girl said...

What a wonderful garden! How lovely it must be having all these wonderful photos to remember your trip by. Those albatross have gorgeous eyes.

Happy New Year!

Bren Haas said...

Your blog is amazing... I can't wait to visit again to see what you share in 2010!~

Happy New Year!

Rosemary said...

Happy New Year to you both. What gorgeous pictures love the Jade vine flower!