[ SUNDAY TRAVEL ]
NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
Allerton Garden in Lawai Valley features Diana Fountain, pools and sculptures amid a vast array of trees and plants.
Isles’ idyllic gardens "Nature is the art of God," observed the great Italian poet Dante.
delight the eye and
give hint of the past
Ancient taro terraces accompany
flowers, fruit trees, sculptures
and medicinal plantsBy Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
Special to the Star-BulletinIndeed. Stroll through the gardens of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and you'll find such a magnificent montage of shapes, textures, color and light, you'll be certain they must have been created by an ethereal hand.
Founded in 1964, the nonprofit NTBG is composed of five gardens -- Allerton, McBryde and Limahuli on Kauai; Kahanu on Maui; and the Kampong in Florida -- plus three land preserves on the Big Island. The only institution chartered by an act of Congress to protect and study rare and endangered tropical plant species, NTBG takes its mission seriously. Half of Hawaii's native plants are threatened with extinction, and advancing scientific research, public education and plant conservation rank high on its priority list.
NTBG offers courses on tropical botany, publishes scientific books and journals, and welcomes visitors to explore its gardens. "A key point in the charter is for the gardens to provide a resource for the people of the United States," notes Kevin Clyde, NTBG's chief operating officer. "The significance of this resource is evident every time we save a plant from extinction, every time we discover a medicinal quality in a plant and every time a local resident attends a workshop or lecture, a young adult participates in an educational course, a visitor tours the gardens or a child visits with his school."
Allerton's natural 'rooms'
Allerton Garden meanders over about 80 acres in breathtaking Lawai Valley on Kauai's southern coast. In the mid-1800s, Queen Emma, wife of Kamehameha IV, built a vacation home on the bluffs overlooking Lawai Bay. Her favorite flower, the deep purple bougainvillea, still cascades like graceful waterfalls down the sides of the cliffs.The McBryde family purchased the land at the turn of the century to grow sugar cane. In 1938 the Allerton family acquired it, and Robert Allerton and his adopted son, John Gregg Allerton, combined their vision, talent and skill to transform it into a triumph of landscape design.
Outdoor "rooms" feature rippling pools, dramatic sculptures and a spectacular array of plants, flowers and trees, including the Tropical Fruit Orchard where mango, lychee, pomegranate and other luscious treats hang from branches like big, bright jewels.
Spice of Life at McBryde
Four marvelous collections dress up more than 250 acres at neighboring McBryde Garden. Spice of Life showcases plants important to the cut-flower industry, timber trade, and food and spice markets; Reading Palms introduces a variety of palms and their uses in products such as oils, thatch and furniture; Canoe Plants of Ancient Polynesia identifies plants that voyagers of long ago carried across the Pacific to provide food, medicine, building materials, clothing and shelter; and A Walk Among the Natives harbors the world's largest assemblage of native Hawaiian plants."A few years ago," Clyde recalls, "Paul Cox, NTBG's director, was in the nursery in McBryde Garden when one of the tours came by. He talked about Catharanthus roseus, commonly called the Madagascar periwinkle, which was growing there -- a plant that has yielded a compound for the treatment of leukemia. One of the visitors tearfully told the group that she was being treated with this drug, and she thanked Dr. Cox for making the conservation and exploration of plants his life's work."
Eden in Limahuli
On Kauai's north shore, Limahuli Garden is an Eden of nearly 1,000 acres. Archaeologists believe that because of its protecting ridges, fertile soil, frequent rain and plentiful marine life, it was one of the first areas in Hawaii to be settled. Plants brought by Polynesian pioneers still prosper in Limahuli, including taro, a dietary staple; wauke, which was pounded into tapa; and olena, used to make dye and medicine."The ancient taro terraces and remnants of home sites in Limahuli make you forget that this is 2002," asserts Clyde. "You can almost believe you're standing at a lookout hundreds of years ago, scanning the ocean for a double-hulled canoe."
Kahanu's edible paradise
Kahanu Garden brightens East Maui's craggy lava coastline with an emerald swath extending about 124 acres. It was here that Piilani, the 16th-century ruler of Maui, is believed to have directed the construction of Piilanihale Heiau, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Measuring 292 feet by 570 feet, Piilanihale is the largest ancient Hawaiian place of worship extant.Within lush Kahanu, you'll also admire the world's largest collection of breadfruit trees (120 varieties), one of Hawaii's last undisturbed native pandanus forests, and notable examples of Pritchardia palm, coconut, banana, vanilla and kava.
NTBG isn't resting on its laurels. Clyde shares the inspiring story of the alula, Brighamia insignis, which grows in the wild only on the sheer cliffs of Kauai and Niihau. Botanists dangled from ropes over the rugged pali in a heroic attempt to save this dwindling species.
"These brave souls pollinated the plants by gathering pollen from one plant with an artist's brush, placing it in a film canister, and then swinging over and brushing it on another plant," says Clyde. Seeds were brought to NTBG's nursery, where the greenhouse staff was able to successfully grow hundreds of plants.
Not all conservation projects have been as dramatic, but every effort, however small, counts. That is NTBG's message: "Together we can make a difference. Together we can save our planet."
Guided tours of Allerton Garden are offered daily except Sunday. $30 for adults, $10 for children ages 6 through 18. Lush tropical gardens offer guided tours
You can take a self-guided tour of McBryde Garden Mondays through Saturdays (and Sundays through Aug. 31). The cost is $15 for those 16 and older, $5 for children 6 through 15. On Saturday, Ohana Day, kamaaina receive free admission to McBryde.
Allerton and McBryde tours begin at the Bill and Jean Lane Visitor Center, 4425 Lawai Road in Poipu, across from Spouting Horn Park. Call 742-2623.
Limahuli Garden, a quarter-mile before Kee Beach, is open Tuesdays to Fridays and Sundays. The cost is $15 (guided tour) and $10 (unguided) for visitors 13 and older. Call 826-1053.
Self-guided tours of Kahanu Garden, located off Hana Highway near mile marker 31, are available Mondays through Fridays. Admission is $10 for those 13 and older. Call 248-8912.
NTBG's Web site is www.ntbg.org.
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based free-lance writer and Society of American Travel Writers award winner.
