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.

The Merrie Monarch Parade

Early spring in Hawaii island is our Merrie Monarch festival celebrating hula at its finest. Along with that comes an array of wonderful cultural, crafts events and many dance related venues, a few activities that I will be posting on in the next few posts.

My favorite event during the week is the parade which is very colorful and filled with pagentry and of course alot of flowers and leis. Its one of my favorite people events to photograph here on the island and gives me an opportunity to experiment and play with my craft.

Here's a nice sampling below of this beautiful parade.


A view of Hilo town with some beautiful Pa'u riders representing the various islands of Hawaii.

I loved the expression and the attitude of this guy sitting on a pick up truck

 

 

More beautiful pa'u riders, this group is from the island of Molokai represented by the green colors.

Alot of these men are actual paniolo or Hawaiian ranch hands that work the ranches on the island. This pa'u rider has beautiful leis made mostly of colorful croton leaves.

Here's a detail shot below.

The female pa'u rider has very elaborate leis and very well crafted and made with orchids, the orange abutilon and her hair piece made with bromeliads and heliconia blooms. These riders represent the colors and island of Lanai.

The beautiful pa'u riders coming from the island of Maui wear the hot pink outfits with gorgeous leis of roses and carnations.

A male pa'u rider and his horse, aren't the leis amazing to see?

Of course whats a hula parade without some dancing, this troupe all the way from Easter island peformed at one of the exhibition nights and is giving a parade performancee with  with their version of Tahitian dancing.

Our Miss Aloha 2012, the main female solo competion is very competitive with traditional and contemporary dancing along with chanting and singing. Miss Aloha had it all and rode down the boulevard to share her aloha.

 

This beautiful girl on a float was holding this hand woven hat to signify a deceased loved one, I'm glad I was able to capture this at the right moment.

 

Taiko drumming is very popular in Hawaii with many different clubs. I could never really capture the essence and beauty of this type of performance but with the tree in the background, you get some type of feeling and essence of the drumming reverberating throughout the parade route.

There's also little beauty pagaents that go on and they also get to share in the glory at this parade.

Here coffee is king and shared with the queens of Kau and Kona coffee along with their supped up camaro, what a classic!

 

Here's the backside to our pa'u rider from Kauai with purple colors and fresh leis adorned with dendrobium and cattleya orchids, isn't this just dazzling to see?

I hope you enjoy our little parade, its one of my favorites to see every year especially to photograph. Maybe you can come and visit this event with us live next year?

Our Fall Colors in East Hawaii

(click on image for full view and the slideshow)

Hilo is in full bloom again with the rainbow shower trees or Cassia x nealiea lining most of the major roads coming in and out of town. These beautiful trees are showy with their long cascades of red, yellow and orange flowers in large clumps dripping down their many branches. We don't get fall color, but we do get fall colored flowers at this time of the year!



Beautiful blooms next to huge monkey pod trees and the large bandstand.



It’s a beautiful time to see this in town and even just to enjoy a brief moment to really see them in their full glory, wouldn’t you agree?

Beautiful and Exotic Orchids of Hawaii

Orchid Collections - Images by Noel Morata

Seeing a flower show specializing in a species like orchids is truly a wonderful expereience in Hawaii for locals and tourists alike. One of the major shows on Hawaii Island is the Orchid show sponsored by the Hilo Orchid Society and they have their show at one of the largest stadiums in HIlo town.

 

The annual orchid show has a regular theme and includes specialty growers, enthusiasts, individual contributors and vendors which completely takes up the entire stadium in orchid related displays, large dioramas and exhibits, plants and products for sale and everything related to these beautiful flowers.

Attached is a slideshow of some of the colorful, dramatic, hybrid and rare collections on display.

 

Enjoy the tour.

Blossoms Everywhere

 

 

 

 

Here in Hilo town, entire boulevards are line with these gorgeous rainbow shower trees or Cassia fistula x javanica and they are all putting out quite a show. The shower trees are adorned with colorful displays of these long clusters of pale yellow then crescendo to hot pink and orange hues.

 

 

 

 

They are all in bloom now and showcasing the beauty of Hilo’s bay front area with a profusion of cascading flowers. What an ideal way to highlight the beauty of these tropical trees than to line the streets with these prolific hybrids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another variety that is used in many of the greenbelt areas and parks are the golden yellow shower trees called Senna Fistula X Cassia fistula. This cassia is also a summer bloomer with long strands of pale to deeper yellow florets. The trees grow effortlessly here, are drought tolerant and adapt to many soil environments including sandy and ocean sprayed areas which is perfect to the open bay front of Hilo.

 

 

 

 

 

Cassia is a huge genus with over 500 species and are some of the most colorful trees and shrubs in East Hawaii. I think they picked the perfect species to highlight the beauty of this area and town, don’t you think?

 

To see other flowers for today go and visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

To see other fertilizer posts for this week, come and visit http://www.tootsietime.com

Orchid Mania

Hawaii Island, also known as the Orchid Isle is filled with a plethora of orchid growers, nurseries and enthusiasts growing various species of orchids around the island.  When the Hilo Orchid club puts on their annual show in summer, you know that this is going to be an exciting time to see some of the most unique, one of a kind specimens and show stoppers.

Many of the growers and hobbyist here use this event to launch their new hybrids that they would like introduced to the market or just showing exclusively for competition. It is quite mind blogging to see so many new species being introduced all at the same time for public viewing.

Let me show you some of the  really unique stars that really stood out for me at this show.
First is this amazing chartreuse beauty called Blc Ports of Paradise – Emerald Isle.  I’m a fan of chartreuse colored flowers and this hybrid just oozes sexy and it has a nice gentle fragrance to draw you in to smell and see the details.




Here’s one of my favorite blue orchids called Lc CG Roebling ‘Sentinel’, such a charmer don’t you think? A very subtle orchid bloom and yet this flower makes quite an impact to its viewers from close up and at a distance.

 

This alien looking orchid that seems to just glow this surreal orange/yellow is called Gertrude Hauserman, its an amazing Cypripedium that won the blue medal in its species.





I was mesmerized by these miniature orchid flowers, called Masdevallia erinacea, the flowers were only the size of my pinky nail and was blooming profusely even though the entire plant was only the size of my DSLR Canon.


 


Well this beauty is truly unique, its called Paphiopedilum tigrinum, one of the more exotic of the lady slippers that originates from the Burmese/Chinese and Thai border areas. It was very hard to capture this with all the other phaps around it. I was almost tempted to lift it from the display just to take an individual shot and make it stand out more, oh well next time.






I’m very drawn to monochromatic colored orchids, they tend to be more unusual for me to observe all the detailed features of its flowers. This attractive beauty is called Paphiopedilum Armeniacum and its yellow hued petals draw me in to take a picture and notice all its details more intimately.






This orchid, I would say is one of the most bizarre and yet colorful beauties at the show. Its called LC Mini purple, Blue Hawaii, its soft purple hued stalk adds so much to its other worldy display along with the bizarre and twisted petals accenting the delicate lip.







This dendrobium is quite stunning. Its flowers and leaves are a purple/black color and the details of its labellum are so dainty and frilly, its a nice complement to the steely edge of the petals. Called appropriately Dendrobium Negro, it really left me speechless and wanting a few of these to take home with me.






Aren’t the leaves stunning and glossy, come on, I know you just love it too!







Aaaaaah, here are some more beauties of the live hula variety, called the Tutus in their Mumu’s (no not really), these are some of our local tutu’s putting on a lively show with music accompany to add to our visual delights and giving us a rest period from all the intensity of this colorful show.





Well this almost sensory overload seeing all these orchid flowers in one seating, lets take a break for now and I’ll continue this again in a future post.  I would love to show you some of the fancy frilly species, some of the most gorgeous flowers I was attracted to, and also some of my favorite photographs that captured these amazing plants.

This post is my contribution for the monthly bloom day celebration, come and visit other blogs participating today at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/
Also please visit other scenic scenes of the world today at http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/