May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii.

May day is also called Lei day in Hawaii, its a popular and fun way to cherish someone you love and care for with a beautiful hand-made lei.

The origins of lei making started with the early Polynesians and settlers to the Hawaiian islands to honor their gods by twining greens into wreaths and making these as offerings. They also used the wreaths and flowered lei made of fragrant ginger blooms to decorate and adorn their bodies. Other fragrant greens used included maile and hala leaves which were used extensively to celebrate various rites, special occasions and daily wear.

This concept of giving a lei to someone special was then popularized with the influx of tourism throughout the Hawaiian islands around the 19th and 20th century. Presenting a lei during the arrival or departure of a love one was shared and communicated as a sign of affection and aloha and still is still used currently as a symbol of affection and aloha.

Leis are now made with many different and aromatic flowers to include tropical plumeria, jasmine, ginger, roses, gardenias, tuba rose and scented orchid blooms to create aromatic and beautiful displays. Every flower and color combination is available and sold through different wholesale and retail outlets. Leis are also made with with many types of organic materials including seeds, shells, fabric and ribbon along with a variety of greenery to create different looks and texture and patterns.

(A gorgeous tutu or grandmother wears and elaborate collection yellow, orange and red flowered leis at a hula performance in Hawaii)

Green material used for the leis above include aromatic maile leaves, ferns and seeds pods, along with the very popular plumeria well loved for its wonderful aroma. Fresh leis are made and worn as adornment for each and every hula performances like the dancer above performing at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.

Even elaborate large leis are made to adorn horses in many of the annual parades throughout the islands. Here leis elaborate leis are created for the horse and pau rider for the annual Merrie Monarch parade in Hlo, Hawaii.

Lei day celebrations today in East Hawaii are marked with lei and craft demonstrations, live music and performances and other festivities celebrating this well loved tradition. It seems so appropriate for the first day of May to celebrate spring and a beautiful day by making a lei and giving to someone special in your life..

©Noel Morata, All rights reserved

Come and visit my photography website at http://noelmorata.photoshelter.com/

An Estate in Papaikou

On a visit to a gorgeous estate in Papaiko with the Hawaii Island Palm Society. We are walking through an old Hawaiian estate with an extensive palm collection along with other beautiful flora.


The main gate is impressive with large bronze bamboo like stems curving in many directions and sweeping around large lava rock pillars which secure an entry gate for walking through.







After passing through the gate, we are facing a beautiful moss covered lava rock wall graced by this Ganesh with interesting purple leaved elder.







The main driveway is quite grand and dotted with beautiful statuary, pots and mature palms along with these stands of variegated miniature ficus trees.






Tall palms line the driveway accented with red ti and mondo grass.









I love seeing this vignette with the moss covered lava rocks and mondo grass next
to this variegated ficus.






A bigger view of the expansive driveway.






Large chinese pots are used for a water garden filled with water lillies and bromeliads
surrounding the pot below.








Towards the end of the driveway from the house, two huge urns grace another rock wall with tree ferns adding tall lacy details from their fronds.










Facing the main home is this balinese inspired entry to the interior garden with orchids
attached to the intricate stonework.









A beautiful sitting area for meditation or conversation, it was a perfect spot for the group
to picnic with the food served in the large pavilion next door.






A cycad detail with its huge cone prominent and projecting a sharp, textured pineapple like top.
 





A beautiful and deadly detailed shot of an unusual palm.







There are orchids growing everywhere along the various palms on the property, they
are pretty effortless growing in these environments.
















The interior garden with covered pergolas leading to the main house.







I’m fond of these obake type anthuriums, there’s a whole collection growing along the interior garden facing the main home. Each flower is large, at over a foot and a half in length.






Walking through this densely planted area of palms, we happen onto this rare palm Johannesteijsmannia Altifrons from Borneo. You can see from the scale, the leaves are huge!






I spot a small stand of birds of paradise, I’m always fond of taking pictures of the colors
and shapes from these beautiful flowers.






A stairway leading down to the lower gardens with Licuala Grandis providing shade along the pathways.







We finally make it to the large grassy area in the lower garden, filled with fruit trees like abiu, mountain apples, mangosteen and lychee.







A detail shot of pods developing on this palm, I love all the texture on the pods.

 

This place is a truly magical botanical garden  filled with amazing plants. I’m glad I had a chance to visit with the palm society and take some wonderful photos.


Thanks for taking the tour with me, to visit other gardens for bloom day today go to http://www.maydreamsgardens.com

A Walk Through the Jungle

 

Deep into the wild and thick forests at Waa Waa, an unruly and almost untamed part of East Hawaii.  Even the roadway to this wilderness is pock-marked with deep potholes, water filled ponds collect everywhere and make it almost impossible to move along the muddy dirt road especially after a heavy rain.

It feels very magical here, like time has stood still for a very long time and you can almost imagine dinosaurs from a very long time ago actually living in this Jurassic Park like zone, even though that only happens in movies.

 

 

Amazing plants abound and grow way up in the tree canopy including this wild birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus), the leaves growing over five to six feet in length alone. I wish some were closer to the ground for me to bring back a plant for my garden, but these plants live way up in the trees hard for the plant collectors to reach.

 

Here is a longer shot of the fern high above the forest canopy and magically

it up by the shaft of light illuminating its beautiful leaves.

 

Large limbs or aerial roots drape from these large trees and are very solid as you can see

from a friend swinging here to test the strong roots.

 

 

 

Eventually we make it to the clearing at the end were deafening sounds of the ocean crashing

can be heard…we see the huge waves battering the coastline and throwing huge boulders onto the rough shoreline.  I took a shot of this imaginary piece symbol with the two rocks lit up the waves in the background.

 

 

This huge arch at the end of the rocky beach is the highlight of the hike, the waves are fierce and hurling huge sprays along the shoreline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a wonderful and short hike, I’m glad this area is rarely traveled except for those who live in this area.

 

When it Rains in Hawaii -The Waterfalls are Amazing

 

With the almost non-stop days of rain in East Hawaii, the plants around paradise are happy.

 

Even with the constant rain, its easy to be outside to do errands and still enjoy the day. Driving to a party at Honomu town, I decided to stop and visit the beautiful waterfalls at Akaka Falls. The falls should be amazing now with the rush of waters coming down from the higher elevations of Mauna Kea into the canyon gulches below before they flow into the Pacific ocean.

 

 

Wasn’t I right?  Its is amazing to see this - sometimes you just need to take a

break from the everyday routines to enjoy the moment and nature around you.

Especially when it puts on such a spectacular display. 

A Beautiful Garden Full of Intrigue

 

Tell me…..

                      Where do you lead to?

     

 

 

                You draw me in completely

           with your colorful bouquets and exotic displays

 

I want

 

to

     

     see

         

                 more

 

                                 please…..

 

 

 

don’t keep me in suspense – I know there’s more exciting things to see beyond

 

this magical entry

 

 

am I right?

 

 

Aaaaah yes…..

- it is beautiful here……

 

 

Everything seems to be in bloom.

 

And the colors are all so vivid and glorious!

 

 

 

 

Jewels in a sea of green.

 

        It is a beautiful world here – thanks for letting me visit and take a

 

                peek – I hope my friends visiting also enjoyed the tour.

 

There are many other gardens to visit today on bloom day, go visit http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/

Hawaii Scenic Landscapes, Come Forth into the Light

Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher.

- William Wordsworth

 

Time for Mushroom Picking

Mushroom picking in Hawaii is very unique in that the over 300 + varieties in Hawaii are truly unique and some not even named.  It was very helpful that we had the guide of one of the premier mycologists from the Big Island, Don Hemmes, with the University of Hawaii lead our photo enthusiasts on a tour along the puna  coastline to discover some of the rare, dangerous and even edible mushrooms.





Apparently you would think that the cooler and higher elevation locations where most of the larger trees are located would be an ideal mushroom hunting area which it is true in some cases. But we assembled at Issaac Hale State Park which is on the most eastern part of Hawaii and along the shoreline, it is dotted with huge Albizia trees, coconut groves and other shoreline flora that actually is quite lush in this natural habitat.
What is unique to this experience was having a gaggle (at least 20) of avid photographers follow Mr. Hemmes around this exciting area to find many of the abundant mushrooms growing here. 

The park is quite rugged with cliffs battered by the rough seas, there are beautiful lava tubes and coconut groves that go on endlessly along the shorelines and it is quite stunning to walk through.






we learn that Mr. Hemmes has in fact lead and named many of his discoveries in this area, and he has published many of the endemic varieties found in this zone into books.  He encourages us to look for some of the rare mushrooms that we are on the hunt for like the earth stars and the Geastrum Lycheeforum.
One of the more abundant mushrooms coming up from the flush of heavy rains were these white Amanita Marmorata mushrooms. Found mostly under the huge albizia trees, these mushrooms are the cousins of the extremely deadly white death caps that many mistake for an edible variety, and can become very ill or even die from a very small sample. Needless to say no-one wanted to even try any of the edible varieties after some discussion about careless forays.



We came upon a variety of really unique mushrooms including some of the following below:


Netted Stinkhorn or Dictyohora Cinabarrina which smelled like rotting manure but also has edible stalks and are grown extensively in Asia for food.








Here is the beautiful Earth stars or Agaricomycetes mushrooms under some leaves.




These edible Geastrum Lycheeforum were name by Mr. Hemmes because they resemble the delicious Lychee fruit. They are supposed to taste similar to puff ball mushrooms.





Here is another type that is supposed to have a shiitake like flavor, it grows very well under this secret canopy of coconuts in an area Mr. Hemmes considers the holy grail of rare mushrooms.




Our photo group pausing for a photo op before we go on our mushroom hunt.





Hope you enjoyed the tour along the coastline, isn't it a beautiful area to discover the treasures low to the ground?


To see other beautiful blooms for fertilzer friday go and visit http://www.tootsietime.com/

This is my contribution to scenic sunday to visit more go to http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/