Kula Botanical Garden

 

Kula Botanical Garden is situated up the hill from us at about 3500 feet above sea. It's only about a twenty-minute drive but we gained a couple thousand feet of elevation during that short drive. 

We paid our $10 (each) entry fee and went in a little after nine this morning. When we got there, Ikuko and I were the only ones enjoying the clean air and majestic views. We had the trails to ourselves and when we left a couple hours later, there were only three other cars in the lot. 

During our visit, we viewed plants from all over the world. The garden was established in 1968 so many of the plants and trees are fully mature. There were so many interesting/different/strange plants that I couldn't take photos of all of them. So what you see is what caught my eye.

This is the walking map at the front desk. We were encouraged to take a pic so we could refer to it as we walked up the path, exploring on the left side, and as we descended, again exploring on our left side.

Irises after the morning watering.

A giant Pincushion (Protea)

Dragon Trees from the Canary Islands

A Bromeliad path

Safari Sunset from New Zealand

Kangaroo's Paw from Australia

Fortnight Lily

This giant Asparagus Fern looked like an octopus or giant squid as we came around the corner and eased away from its tentacles.

Spanish Bayonet Yucca. I guessed they were about 15-18 feet tall.

These Hawaiian natives are visible on the distant side of the ravine. At least their marking signs were visible. I think this is a good way to conserve the plants while still allowing a sense of discovery. 

Guardians of the Garden

Banksia Ericafolia (No common name given) reminds me of the pruned and nurtured pines in some Japanese gardens.

Orchids line one side of the orchid house

More orchids on the other side

If you look carefully you can see the stream peeping through the lush vegetation.

This is a Pot of Gold flower, part of a hedge that runs around the parking lot of the Garden. From here we can see the isthmus that bridges the low country between the Haleakala volcanic buildup and the West Maui Mountains, which we see in the center-right background. If you follow the bottom of the cloud layer to the right, just where it meets the bush in the right side of the photo, is where the Iao Valley lies. I posted photos from when we were there a couple days ago.