Tropical foliage

A riot of tropical foliage frames a view towards the ocean.
A single purple orchid is a spot of color against the green and brown background.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Plant Life.’ See more offerings here.

The east side of the Big Island is the place for plant life thanks to good soils, warmth, and abundant rainfall. These photos were taken on my last visit to Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden, before it closed because of the Covid-19 virus.

This doesn’t mean they’ve been slacking during the closure. Instead they appear to have launched a new name and new website. The new name is Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden and, I think reflects more of the purpose behind the garden. The new name, conveniently, means they didn’t have to change their website. It’s still htbg.com.

The new website is definitely a spiffier looking production, but it comes with a drawback. They used to have a plant database that I found very useful in identifying what I saw there. I can’t find it on the new website. Hopefully, this is just an issue with transitioning the information. Otherwise, I’ll be in a bit of difficulty.

Early Yellow beehive ginger makes colorful focal points against a backdrop of green foliage.
On the left, a deep red heliconia against large green leaves. On the right, the purple bract of anthurium schlechtendalii or pheasant’s tail.
Not all leaves are green as these colorful ti plants attest.

18 thoughts on “Tropical foliage”

    1. Graham Post author

      I like that image too. I think is captures a bit of how rampant tropical foliage can get. With this challenge I went for that look with just a few pops of color from flowers, such as the orchid.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Terri Webster Schrandt

    How nice to see bloggers visiting from SS, Graham. I had such a good time with you last year when we toured the gardens! Strange the name was changed and disappointing the database is missing. Perhaps you are right and it’s a page under construction. When we were on the BI, I saw several native plants just walking around the various neighborhoods in Hilo. I think our next Hawaii visit may be Maui in a couple of years. Gorgeous photos, and thanks for the reminder of our tour!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham Post author

      I sent them an email to find out what was going on with the site. Hopefully they’ll add the database soon. I think the name change is intended to show that they’re in the business of growing plants that might be endangered elsewhere.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham Post author

      I hope you get to visit, but you should wait until August because otherwise you’ll be spending all your time in your hotel room because of quarantine requirements. Perhaps when everything has calmed down some.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. Graham Post author

          Actually, we’ve fared pretty well. They introduced a 14-day quarantine for new arrivals to Hawaii and even for people traveling between islands, so that really helped keep things in check. On the Big Island we’ve had less than 100 cases and no deaths. Where do you live on Vancouver Island? I used to live in Port Townsend, Washington and visited the island often.

          Liked by 1 person

  6. Natalie

    Hello Graham, I’m visiting from Terri’s Sunday Stills photo challenge. How nice that you live on the Big Island. i visited it a while ago. I enjoyed viewing your beautiful photos. The Early Yellow beehive ginger and pheasant’s tail are some plants that I don’t get to see often.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Graham Post author

      I hope you enjoyed your visit. If you come for another visit I can highly recommend spending some time at the gardens. There’s always something good to see there.

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