Booming With Blooms

Island boy at Wailoa Center

When we retired and moved to the Big Island of Hawaii a couple years ago, we left an beautiful well-established Victorian garden we had lovingly tended for over 20 years.  The loss we felt over leaving has been replaced by the delight of our new land and landscape as we work to terraform forest and jungle into garden.

In developing our new garden in the Puna district, we've had a ton of fun buying a whole new pallet of bright unusual plants.  Over a year ago we purchased some unique bromeliads and right now, they are sending up stocks of blooms which will open soon.

In the meantime for Mother's Day, I received this amazing orchid with long, long whiskery lips or lobs.  Many of the orchids we have purchased in the past two years have surprised us by blooming again.  In Humboldt County we never bothered with orchids; too much fuss.  Here, we keep a couple trays filled with them out under the ohia trees and do nothing to them except wait for them to bloom, them bring them into the house to enjoy.

We recently visited one of the local galleries in Hilo at Wailoa Center for their fiber art show.  Although there were a couple of quilts, the other entries utilized a wonderful variety of both man made and natural fibers.

TWO DAYS LATER...I went out to weed around some other 4 1/2 foot tall giant bromeliads (which must be done with care as their razor edges can leave you bloodied) I found yet ANOTHER hidden bloom (close-up artfully adapted.)  So, for our 29th Anniversary, we had to walk around the whole yard -- looking down into the intimacies of all our plants!