Allerton Estate and National Tropical Botanical Garden on New Year's Eve

This is a stunningly beautiful masterpiece! Not as many flowering plants due to “winter” time but who would know unless you had seen it in summer. We had a simply divine guide named Wendy, who had a very unique gift of combining a wealth of information and humor. With her love of the plants and honor for the earth she was our kind of gal in her entertaining 2.5 hour tour of the estate and gardens. Here is a little info…then a lot of pictures! Some captioned, some not. This is truly something to experience and support if you visit Kauai.
The grounds were the mid-1800s summer cottage of Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV, and the former home of Robert & John Allerton.A naturally stunning location, the Lawai Valley's tropical beauty was nurtured over the years by its illustrious owners beginning with Queen Emma's addition of deep purple bougainvillea along the cliff walls. In 1937 the Allertons purchased the property and continued the vision of a garden paradise by transforming the grounds into a masterpiece of landscape design.
The Allerton Estate is managed by the adjoining National Tropical Botanical Garden, a non-profit organization that conducts guided tours of the estate. Plants from all over the world grow in this sprawling garden, which is the nations only congressionally chartered tropical botanical garden. The garden has the world's largest collection of native Hawaiian flora, many of them rare and endangered. Ninety percent of all plant and animal species on our planet exist in the tropics -- that warm moist belt that circles the earth. And it is in these regions where the extinction rate is the highest. Species are disappearing faster than anyone knows. They cannot be replaced. The National Tropical Botanical Garden is dedicated to preserving tropical plant diversity and stemming this tide of extinction - through plant exploration, propagation, habitat restoration, scientific research, and education. NTBG's gardens and preserves are safe havens for at-risk species that otherwise might disappear forever.

This is looking down onto the Allerton Estate as we are riding the tram down. He had a vision much like the woman who started the Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC

Queen Emma's purple bougainvillea along the cliff walls
Pathways like this ... oh yea, this one was where that pesky flying dinosaur thing jumped out of the bushes in Jurassic Park...several scenes were done here
I thought this picture was blurry but it isn't...this is a very cool feathery fern on the cliff walls
Sunlight coming through the canopy of the Monkey Pod trees. Mr Allerton planted a lot of Monkey Pod trees for there beautiful symmetrical shape and because the sunlight would penetrate to the plants underneath.
Oh yea, one of my favorites...orchids
Heliconia
There are fountains and statuary tucked away and out in the open. We had 3 days of monsoon rains and all of the waterways look like Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory. Imagine how beautiful when the water is clear...this just gave it a different look ;-)
This trumpet looking flower is highly toxic and was used in the days of piratry (is that a word) they would drug men with it and they would wake up a few days later (maybe) and find out they were now deck hands on the ship or worse!

The fronds on this plant were amazing!

Can you say "dinosaur egg"?
The roots on these type of fig trees don't normally do this but they don't like all the water so they raise up, like they're pulling away, creating a pre-historic look!
Bright red stalks on these palms...WOW

A simply enchanting bamboo forest...
The river winding through the estate toward Mr Allerton's home and the Ocean...now doesn't that look like something you would put on your ice cream?
They did there best to preserve any ancient Hawaiian landscape left...

this is part of once tiered taro farm
looking back the other direction
White ginger!

Some where in there are fish
this was the coolest fountain...it is built tiered in a way that by the time in spills

into this bowl it does it in a pulsing fashion at 60 steady beats a minute!

Very healing and called the Mermaid's Fountain

There is a mermaid at each end of the long fountain...and a bench to sit at

to steady your heart beat to the rythm of the fountain

The full picture



Beautiful statues either shipped in or replicated

chocolate pool
Masterpieces everywhere
Everything is soooo happy and healthy
Wendy says this is area is where houseplants go MAD!

The end to the tour and look whats on the road home
A massive full arched rainbow...I had to pull over and take it in 2 shots it was so close
Kauai is a treasure! Aloha...