Monkeypod tree at McBryde Garden, Kauai. (c) HTA/Tor Johnson.

Blooming Hawaii

Plant lovers and gardeners troop to Hawaii's sensational botanical gardens, and those from the dry West can only wonder at lush tropical splendor.

By Claire Walter

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> Kauai
> The Big Island
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Colorado gardeners, who contend with a short growing season, snow, hail and rapacious deer, can only envy their Hawaiian counterparts. Visits to any of the larger islands can include botanical gardens that showcase the work of the islands' top horticulturalists.


Oahu

Hawaii's most developed island boasts more botanical gardens than any other, including several right in Honolulu. Honolulu Botanical Garden is a city-run showcase—or showcases, because there are five of them, and all but one are free. Among them, they boast the largest collection of tropical plants in the U.S.

Foster Botanical Garden is the oldest of the quintet. Its roots (literally) go back to 1853, when Dr. William Hillebrand planted the first of its monumental trees. Now covering 14 acres in the heart of Honolulu, the garden is known for its Old World, New World and hybrid orchids. Its two dozen "Exceptional Trees" were so designated for age, rarity, location, size, aesthetic quality, endemic status or historical significance.

Rose of Siam ginger (Etlingera corneri) at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Big Island. (c) HTBG.

Just to the north is Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden, a 7.5-acre jewel that was once the picnic grounds of Hawaii's last monarch. It is now dedicated to native Hawaiian plants.

Developed in the 1920s as an experimental arboretum for sugar plantations, the 27-acre Wahiawa Botanical Garden between the Waianae and Koolau ranges specializes in plants of the cooler, shadier and more humid tropical rain forest environment.

At 400 acres at the foot of the Koolau Mountains on the island's windward side, Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden is Oahu's largest. Though its plants come from the world's major tropical regions and are grouped geographically, it specializes in native and threatened Hawaiian species.

Koko Crater Botanical Garden demonstrates the diversity of Hawaii's natural environment. This 200-acre preserve includes the 60-acre basin of Koko Crater in eastern Oahu. Visitors take self-guided walks among the cacti, succulents, plumeria, dryland palms and bougainvilleas. Although established in 1958, it is not yet developed and has no highly constructed trails or facilities.


Kauai

The reflecting pool at McBryde Garden, Kauai. (c) HTA/Tor Johnson.

Kauai, nicknamed "the garden island," is the site of three National Tropical Botanical Gardens (NTBG). This organization maintains nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves in an open-air environment, with four properties in Hawaii and one in Florida. Allerton Garden, on Kauai's south shore, was created by Hawaiian royalty and then developed in turn by a sugar planter, an artist and an architect. The garden, set in a beautiful stream-carved valley, features elegant European-influenced landscaped pools, fountains and statues, plus towering rainforest trees and botanically important tropical species.

The NTBG also operates nearby McBryde Garden, which hosts the largest collection of native Hawaiian flora, as well as Limahuli Garden and Preserve on the north end of Kauai, known for preservation of native species.

Kilhana Plantation preserves Hawaii sugar plantation life. The plantation house, with shops and Gaylord's Restaurant, sits on landscaped grounds. The highlight is a 40-minute narrow-gauge train tour past a working farm, sugarcane fields, orchards with 50 kinds of fruit trees and a rainforest. An expanded tour includes a short hike and a picnic among the trees. The train also stops at an enclosure where visitors can feed goats and pigs.

Nature meets art at magical Na 'Aina Kai Gardens with its exquisite formal gardens, hedge maze, desert garden, children's garden and some 90 bronze sculptures. Of the 240 acres that stretch down to the sea, 110 are planted with 28 species of hardwoods. Guided tours are the only way to see Na 'Aina Kai-call before your visit to make a reservation.


The Big Island

Hedge maze at World Botanical Gardens, Big Island. (c) World Botanical Gardens.

On the Big Island of Hawaii, the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Gardens brings the science of ethno-botany-the study of people and their plants-to life. The garden, part of the renowned Bishop Museum, honors the botanical heritage of Native Hawaiians and the legacy of the plants that the remarkable seafaring Polynesians brought with them when they settled the islands.

Within the tranquil, spiritual seven-acre Paleaku Peace Gardens Sanctuary is the unusual Galaxy Garden, a 100-foot-diameter swirl of greenery created by astronomer and space artist Jon Lomberg, who mapped the Milky Way in living plants and flowers. Lavish hibiscus represent nebulae. Tiny spots on millions of leaves stand in for individual stars, with a bead glued onto one leaf representing our solar system. The Galaxy Garden hints at the vastness of our galaxy in a comprehensible way.

The stunningly situated Hawaii Tropical Botanic Garden on Onomea Bay near Hilo displays more than 2,000 plant species including 200 kinds of palms. It also operates a seed bank and a study center for world tropical flora. Visitors follow a 500-foot elevated boardwalk into a giant ravine where bamboo, bananas, flowering vines, orchids and ferns thrive. Nature trails lead through a rainforest past beautiful waterfalls to the rugged, spectacular Pacific coast.

The World Botanical Gardens, also near Hilo, displays more than 5,000 plant species with an ambitious hope of eventually growing to 30,000. The centerpiece of the 275-acre gardens is Umauma Falls, the triple-tiered 300-foot cascade that is acclaimed as one of Hawaii's most beautiful. The rainforest walk is also exceptional.


Maui

Most of Maui's dozen-plus botanical gardens are relatively small and specialized.

Taro expert Jerry Konanui, right, gives advice to a festival-goer at Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. Big Island. (c) Bishop Museum.

The 122-acre Kahanu Garden, part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden system, combines Pacific Island horticulture and culture. It is located near Hana at the site of Pi'ilanihale Heiau, an enormous 14th-century lava-rock ceremonial platform and National Historic Landmark. A half-mile walk leads through the heart of the garden. Its extensive collection of ethnobotanic plants of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia includes 120 types of breadfruit.

Alii Kula Lavender Farm is an oasis of cultivated beauty and fragrance, perched at 4,000 feet on the volcanic slopes of Haleakala. On daily tours, guides explain how each of the 31 varieties is used. The farm also offers workshops on growing and cooking with lavender.

Also on Haleakala, at 2,500 feet, is Enchanting Floral Gardens of Kula Maui. Eight glorious acres are crammed with 1,500 species of tropical and semitropical plants from around the world. Specimens include proteas, orchids, hibiscus, jade vines and fruit trees. This garden is so popular with Japanese visitors that the website is bilingual. It is equally enchanting for Coloradans visiting Hawaii.

Claire Walter is a travel, food and sports writer based in Boulder.


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