Hilo Orchid Show

 

I’m always giddy at around this time frame when the Hilo Orchid show is begins, it is truly one of the biggest and most exotic of Orchid Shows in Hawaii.  Surprisingly, I was not done finishing last years images which was quite a spectacular show, so I’m presenting it now before the next show begins.

 

 

I’m glad I got a chance to finally finish these and present some of the showstoppers from last years event especially since the new show is just around the corner.

 

 

 

There are some amazing orchid growers on Hawaii Island, along with plenty of serious enthusiasts and collectors that are creating with some fantastic new hybrids and incredibly colorful specimens.

 

 

Dazzling displays like the showcases above blend in a profusion of colors and different orchid varieties.

 

 

 

 

The colors are always over the top and so unusual in color combinations like this cattleya orchid with hot yellow and white petals with soft purple lips.

 

 

Almost alien looking and bright orange masdevallia orchids pop dramatically against this blue background, don’t they look totally out of this world?

 

 

I love this showcase with a Southeast asian tropical flair with hot pink, red and orange dendrobium and epidendrums and miltonias.

 

 

I was lucky to come later in the afternoon and beautiful light filtered into the stadium and creating beautiful backlit portraits like this one orchid spray below.

Here’s the front to the backlit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An almost alien looking specimen about to lift off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another alien looking masdevallia orchid.

 

 

I’m a sucker for these gorgeous brassavola orchids.

 

 

 

Backlit and stunning don’t you agree?

 

 

Another grouping of cattleya lit but the late afternoon light, its truly dazzling to see.

 

 

Last, are some intense yellow paphiopedilum or lady slipper orchids end this amazing show at Hilo.

 

 

 

It is always fun to visit this yearly event and be wowed by the colorful displays, orchid vignettes and new hybrids that are being presented.  When you are visiting the Big Island, try to make it to see this wonderful event.

Bromeliad Envy

 

While I’m working on my new center island project in the back yard, I visited a bromeliad grower/collector’s garden so I can get inspired and maybe purchase something that would add a nice accent to the various plantings I had in mind for this new bed.

 

 

Now this is not just a bromeliad garden, its one of the most unusual and exotic varieties carried by this grower/exporter. He has an extensive collection that any avid collector would drool over.

 

Needless to say, I was in awe of all the amazing specimens not to mention at a lost for the correct names that he was mentioning left and right and totally not registering in my brain. All I can say was this was an amazing collection that kept me oooohing and aaaaahing at every corner of his garden.

 

 

This one had me at hello, its my first purchase and the only one he had, say hello to my new friend which the grower grew from seed and is now about a foot in girth, there was no identification of this species available unfortunately.

 

The grower had some great varieties of Tillandsias to see, this one was over a foot large which I thought was huge for these plants and the color was an intense orange, of course it wasn’t for sale.

 

 

This gorgeous white growing on a coconut tree was not for sell either :(

 

 

He even stuck a lot of the tillandsias in the ixora bushes which I thought was original.

 

 

 

Well hello you hot fuschia beauty, your stunning – wanna live in my garden?

 

And you are just waaaaay over the top…..I have to just take you home with me now!

 

 

 

The sculptural details on this one was just sublime….

 

 

 

The green, red and yellow of this guzmania just stopped me on my walk because it was in a dark shady green area, but it just popped!

 

 

 

 

This grower breeds unusual varieties like this huge purple aechmea, this specimen was over four feet in its width – gigantic!

 

 

I loved this plant, I’m not sure what it is, maybe some type of caladium? I thought the leaves were huge and so colorful with their black veins contrasting with an orange red interior.

 

 

 

I had to take a picture of this bloom, it was just beckoning me to come over and say hello.

 

Well the friend that came with me, nabbed this gorgeous neoregalia beauty first….lets just say I was not happy and we didn’t talk on the car ride back!

 

 

But I found another neoregalia that looked just as stunning, wouldn’t you agree?

 

 

 

Here’s a last photo of a corner of his beautiful garden…wasn’t this just a fun tour? It really felt like being a kid in the candy store and finding something exciting….

 

All the Decorations are Set…..

 

Its sad that we have to import Christmas trees from Washington and Oregon to get our holiday trees here in Hawaii. I’ve always been the opposite of having to cut down live trees and prop them up as decoration – although I do love xmas decorations during the holiday season.

 

 

Living in Hawaii means having to be resourceful and believe it or not we do have or own version of the Christmas pine tree called the Norfolk or cook island pine known also as Araucaria heterophylla.  These trees originate from Norfolk Island and it grows very well in all tropical areas. In Hawaii outside of Christmas trees and landscaping the wood is extensively used by local craftspeople for making a variety of utilitarian and decorative items for the tourist trade.

 

Hoping to find some live potted plants that I could use and then eventually plant in my garden, I decided to go out and look for an actual tree farm.

 

Not a good day for getting a christmas tree, there was a major tropical storm going on the entire week – it was a better day to spend indoors.  I wasn’t deterred and pressed to to finding some live plants. Just outside of Pahoa town is a grower that grows many types of tropicals (mostly anthuriums and orchids and I did buy quite a few wholesale) and these beautiful trees are actually cut down for anyone that wants a large tree. I find out later from the stumps new trees can grow back to full size in under four years which is just amazing.

 

 

 

These pines can get really large, some growing over forty feet plus – a little to big for my small house.

 

Okay the rain was really dumping buckets at this point….and I mean buckets, so I run into one of the shade houses for cover and find the potted trees that are for sale….lets see which ones are talking to me to take home today.

 

 

Since they are still small and in gallon containers that are practically cemented to the ground through their unrelenting tap roots. it took quite an effort to pull the plant roots out that suckered through the containers and through the ground shade cloth – didn’t think it would be just as difficult as cutting a tree.

 

I end up purchasing three trees for $8 each, one Charlie Brown tree and two short and stout versions, here’s the Charlie Brown tree finally decorated below.

 

 

Here’s the shorter and stocky version that I transplanted into a five gallon container. I’ll keep this one potted and hopefully use again for next year so everyone can see the growth. (although these do not grow as aggressively in contained pots unlike the planted versions).

 

 

Here’s the collection of anthuriums I picked up from the grower, it’s the center piece of

the table top display.

 

 

The anthuriums again and ferns decorating the chandelier with red christmas ornaments.

 

 

Its been fun getting back into the Christmas spirit and I’m glad I was able to use local trees and various ferns, orchids and greenery from my garden to complete the holiday look…now on to the festivities.

 

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas, thank you for following my plant fanatic blog and Happy New Year and gardening to all.

The Hot, the Loud and the Proud #9

Show us your tropicals and exotics, your hot Mediterranean colors and wild combinations, amazing discoveries and unusual variations. Or how about something exciting you just saw, a crazy garden,  amazing garden art or design, an inspiring visit or hike?

This meme is open to all (you do not have to live in an exotic location to participate)  and will be on the last day of each month…so mark your calendars and lets do something fun on the hot, the loud and the proud meme. I’ll have the link available early, east coast time (USA) to catch you early birds and even earlier for those of you in other countries.

Its hard to believe that we are at the start of December and celebrating another hot meme. This month, I’m visiting one of the most popular orchid nurseries on the Big Island called Akatsuka Orchid Gardens up in Volcano with over 200,000 orchids growing in their specialty nursery. At Akatsukas, they specialize in Cattleyas and other hybrid orchids including orchids with scented blooms. A typical hybridized orchid takes up to 5 years to mature from a a tissue cutting to full bloom.

On my way around the display gardens, I found quite a few worth sniffing and admiring some of the more exotic hybrids that they are growing here.


As I mentioned, they are specialty growers of cattleyas especially the scented variety and this first one had a faint whiff of a plumeria.  The vivid purple hues are enough to attract any attention, but the added scent makes you want to stop and enjoy the blooms for a longer time frame.



This black lady slipper/ paphiopedilum caught my eye right away, its striped black on black with dark purple petals are very bold and truly make a statement to any orchids in the display garden. The bottom photo shows the flower starting to come out, it looks more like an alien warship about to take off.





This newer hybrid, I could not even locate a label for so I’m assuming it is not yet named. I haven’t seen this type of orchid with frilly petals and a white green color combination. It is absolutely stunning.



A few more exotic paphiopedilums ordhids on display.




Hope you enjoyed the tour, if you can’t visit this in person, they have a wonderful website to check out what’s happening at http://www.akatsukaorchid.com/

To see other posts to the Hot, the Loud and the Proud please click any of the links below and enjoy your visit.