A visit to a friend's garden

Living in Hawaii has advantages too numerous to count, but one of the most pleasant for me is the spectacular beauty of the flora.

Our friend Carol Noel (don't you just love her name?) lives a few miles south of Hilo in a beautiful 'out of the way' setting.  Completely surrounded by trees, palms and plants of all kinds, her place is a living tropical paradise that completely assaults every one of your senses... 

Carol is a member of the State of Hawai'i Master Gardeners and it shows.  Her love of plants is alive and well and the results can be seen in the profusion of blooms and riotious colors, truly a living representation of an artist's palette.

The following photo of me snapping away at the Angel Trumpets was taken by Janice Crowl, another Hawai'i Master Gardener and author of Container Gardening in Hawai‘i How to Grow Paradise in a Pot and Pulelehua and Mamaki

To show everything growing in Carol's huge yard would take tomes, as the place is filled with wandering and meadering paths where even the most plant appreciation deprived individuals have to stop, take a deep breath and glory in the abundance....all I can say is that the day of my visit I took over a hundred photos of just plants and flowers.

At this time I'm just showing a few from the magnificent collection of Brugmansia, a small tree-like plant that many people confuse with the Datura, including me, until quite recently.  All parts of the Brugmansia or as they are also commonly known, Angel Trumpets, are poisonous, but that doesn't take from their spectacular beauty.

As you walk up and down the paths of Carol's yard, you find different varieties and colors of Brugmansia all over the place.   It is the largest collection I have ever seen in one place.

The stylized bell shape, delicate colors and faint perfume of the blooms have always fascinated me.

 

Comments

[Sonia]

Thank you, Portia...So glad you enjoyed it!

[Portia Little]

I can't imagine flowers this magnificent. And as always, your photos are incredible, Sonia! Thanks for sharing this garden with us.
Portia