The Unusual Flora of Kula Botanical Gardens — Maui
Globetrotters April Monthly Challenge — “Floral Beauty Around the World”
A great place to stop on the way to the Haleakala Volcano summit are the Kula Botanical Gardens. We did just that on our third trip back to Maui in January 2022.
We attempted to stop here on our visit in 2015 as Kula is one of the towns you ride through when you bike down Haleakala. Unfortunately, when we made our reservations for the biking adventure, it was Christmas Day and many side attractions that we would have been able to take in were closed.
We did stop at Kula Gardens, and finding it closed, ate some snack bars we had in our day packs, along with some water. One of the coolest things I saw on that trip was a huge Poinsettia near the road and parking lot of Kula Lodge.
Poinsettias are native to Mexico and can grow as shrubs in the wild. I took this opportunity to show my students exactly what one would look like.
The Kula Botanical Gardens are rife with tropical plants. We ate lunch there in mid-January 2022. The foliage was lush and the tropical plants included ginger, proteas, succulents, bananas, orchids, and bird of paradise plants. These were just the ones I could recognize! There are almost 2000 species of plants at Kula Botanical Gardens indigenous to Hawaii (source) (source) that are elegantly shown over eight acres of this upland paradise.
The Banksia, or Golden Candles, is a native shrub of Australia. But, here it is growing in the Kula Gardens! It grows here only as a cultivated species, surviving in the mountainous coastal climate of Haleakala at 3,300 feet where the Kula Botanical Gardens are located (source). The plant is highly unusual and is said to be both drought and frost-tolerant (source).
The Hawaiian Islands Beach Renter Website offers a description of the flowers found at Kula Gardens:
“Hundreds of plant varieties are labeled along the easy to follow pathways. There is an especially large collection of the Protea flowers, which are native to South Africa. These flowering bushes create flowers that are exotic, like firework displays at every branch tip. Other highlights are the plentiful orchids, bromeliads, and antherium flowers that are featured in their own display areas with shaded seating.” — (quoted from the Hawaiin Islands Beach Renter website).
Some other species of protea were observed too.
This might be a side of Maui you have not seen or heard of. It is referred to as Upland Maui — there are farms, lush vegetation, and sometimes quite a wind, as the day we were there. It is a beautiful spot for a drink, breakfast or lunch.
Kula Botanical Gardens are located on the road to Haleakala at mile marker 8. The address and directions can be found on the web pages linked below. There is a small entrance fee. It looks unassuming from the road but don’t miss it! The views are behind the main building. The gardens have been open to the public since 1971.
As a temperate gardener raised in Western New York and transplanted in the Upper Midwest where I’ve lived for the last 24 years, the lush tropical specimens always provide me with something new to learn about. I’ll never tire of it.
Are you feeling you need more color? Check out these two posts from fellow Globetrotters.
JoAnn Ryan writes of the floral beauty in Trinidad and Tobago. JoAnn’s post not only has great color but also one of my favorite plants — the Hibiscus!
And Michael Rhodes writes about the colorful flower fields of Carlsbad California. Had I known these fields existed when we stayed in Carlsbad ten years ago, I would have gone! But, I knew the name of the flower he features, so I think I get extra credit points for that! Seriously, the fields Michael shares with us are gorgeous!
And if you need another exotic flower post, check out the one I posed yesterday on Easter Lilies!
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