Friday, January 22, 2010

Come and Visit a Tropical Vireya Grower in Hawaii

IMG_1444

The Big Island of Hawaii has an amazing plethora of growers that export food commodities to the world, and also amazing floral businesses that are a huge part of our agro-economy. I’m going to take you on a visit to one of our local growers of specialty Vireyas or Tropical Rhododendrons.
We are visiting the White Cloud nursery in the Ka’eohe Homesteads on the east side of Hawaii Island. This area really feels and looks like we are in the cloud forests where vireyas tend to flourish in higher altitude conditions.
Pete and Jane Adams are the owners of the nursery and they have been growing and selling  vireyas at White Cloud exclusively.   This nursery specializes in subtropical vireyas and comprises of five acres with over 300 species of hybrid Vireya and Madenni Rhododendrons. There is also a wonderful show garden and green house that is open to the public on Saturdays from 9 to 2 pm.

IMG_1391
Shall we start our tour with Pete and Jane, they promised to spare us a few minutes from their busy schedule to show us some amazing plants today!  The show gardens are very well laid out and bordered with logs from paper bark tree’s that were cut down to open up the growing display areas. The walkways are cinder rock so that makes it very easy to walk around the display areas. I didn’t ask about wheel chair accessibility but it looks doable if your willing to push someone through the cindered pathways.

IMG_1409

Here’s one of the first beauties that caught my eye while we were walking. Its called Will Silent, I should have asked why this was called that name, but I was just to stunned by the color and wanted to capture the amazing flower clusters and the burst of sunlight.

IMG_1392

Let me introduce you to Christo Rey which has vivid orange and a yellow throat base, its dazzling and the flowers look just soo perfect.
IMG_1394


If you like pink and frilly then you will love Queensland which has dark maroon leaves, showy flowers and is fragrant with spicy scents.

IMG_1398

This showy bi-colored Vireya is called Haloed Gold and it is a frequent bloomer and is very sun tolerant. A nice upright shrub with glossy foliage.
IMG_1403


I love peach colored flowers like this one called lulu, its got a zany name that makes me smile.
IMG_1405


Now this flower is all yellow and its name is a mouthful, its called Laetum X Arigeranum. The leaves were so green and glossy, it made the yellow really pop!
IMG_1407

I think I caught the light really well on this flower called Aravir, its just stunning and the scent is just amazing, light floral and jasmine scent.  I would love to get a few of these please.
IMG_1428

For those that want a smaller gem, this one is still dramatic. Its called R. Commonae and the small bells are almost pure red, what a drama queen!
IMG_1416

This one is my favorite on the tour, its called Candy Halo and it really has it all. Showy pink framing a white star and deep yellow throat and a large flower. ..humm you had me at hello!
IMG_1435

I think I could go on and on through their beautiful display garden, but it was getting really hot outside so we decided to check out the green house for some well deserved shade. This is the interior shot of the green house. It is over 3000 square feet and used primarily for propagating their export certified plants.
IMG_1432
We toured the inside briefly and I saw alot of the propagated plants, minatures and new varieties that are currently being tested. I also saw a few beauties that were actually more interesting for their foliage like this one called R. Polyanthemum, it has rusty and furry leaves and would add alot of texture and color to an all green garden.
IMG_1433

Well I’m feeling a little sun stroke and I thank Jane and Pete for spending some time with us. If you would like to check out their website for more information about growing these amazing plants and adding some to your collection, here’s their website below. http://www.whitecloudnursery.com/
If your ever on the Big Island of Hawaii, please stop and visit the White Cloud nursery outside of Pahoa Village, Pete and Jane are such wonderful garden friends, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting them.  Also, If you enjoyed our tour, please feel free to make a comment below, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks for joining me on our vireya tour and I’ll look forward to visiting another favorite plant  grower from Hawaii soon.
Aloha,

Noel

9 comments:

Rothschild Orchid said...

How beautiful. Wonderful post noel, thank you.

RO :o)

Jim Groble said...

it is always a treat to visit your blog. the pictures and story are wonderful. it almost makes me forget that it's 20 outside.
jim

Carol said...

Great photos Noel... the light is magic though it may have been hot for you! Fun to see so much color in January! ;>) Carol

BernieH said...

What beautiful varieties ... thanks for sharing these. They really are stunning blooms.

Ami said...

How pretty! Especially love the color richness of Queensland and Candy Halo. Thanks for showing us this, Noel!

Yan said...

Beautiful, I'd never heard of vireyas. I learn so much at blotanical. I particularly like the laetum and aravir and lulu ......in fact I like (and want) them all.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

These are wonderful - I've never seen plants like this before. Candy Halo would be my favourite and then the white one.

Jean Campbell said...

Beautiful, all of them! I was looking forward to seeing the vireyas. Thank you for the tour. Interesting to see them out in the bright sun. Ours prefer high shade.

Next cold, miserable day, I'm going to spend time looking at Henning's Rhodoendron web site and looking for more vireyas.

Anonymous said...

I'll take the pink one, the white one and, let's see...all the rest. Plant gluttony at its finest. What a delightful day it must have been.

Related Posts with Thumbnails