Limahuli Garden, Kauai
Limahuli Garden, on the north coast of Kauai, is another part of the National Botanic Gardens group. This is not (as I had assumed) part of the US Park Service, but a charity which owns and operates gardens in Hawaii and Florida (it manages but does not own Allerton Gardens).
These gardens are relatively new (1967) and small (17 acres) but very interesting and in one of the most dramatic locations imaginable. A massive mountain, Makana, (it featured in the movie South Pacific were it is called Bali Hai) towers above the gardens on one side and a range of mountains to the other side and rear of the property. A small stream waters the garden and is well landscaped – almost like a Japanese garden. The booklet included in the $15 entrance fee contains drawings of the significant plants .. which are numbered for easy identification.
The gardens are a small part of the Limahuli Preserve of nearly 1000 acres which extend back into the valleys. The goal is to reforest the preserve with native Hawaiian shrubs and trees which have become nearly extinct because of alien non-native trees such as banyan, swamp mahogany and java plum. I was sorry to learn that the beautiful Octopus Tree (schefflara) is considered a pest by the local botanista. (Freudian slip : I meant botanists .. I have invented a word making botanists sounds like a fascist movement)
The goal of this garden was to present plants native to the island. Plants are classed as being endemic (found in the Hawaiian Islands and no where else) ; indigenous (species which pre-date the arrival of humans) ; Polynesian (introduced by the ancient Polynesian settlers) ; alien ( species that came since European contact in the late 1700s – whether cultivated or weeds). The whole topic is complex .. and the same distinctions (under different names) seem to be reflected in local politics. I was astounded to learn there is a party for Hawaiian autonomy. Degrees of how authentic a Hawaiian a person is seem to figure large in many people’s thinking. (Come to think of it, the same is true of an English village, so why was I astounded?).
It was raining while I visited this garden and while it hampered photography a bit, it created this great vision of cloud forests in the mountains above. The atmosphere here is lovely. Although comparatively small, the design of the path is such that the place seems spacious. I’m sure that the views out over the Pacific add to this sense of space. I am very impressed with the design of the place and how natural it seems.
To link to Photo Gallery, click here.
The fine print
Date of travel: 9 - 15 October 2008
Limahuli Garden click here for information