Poinsettias and Pineapple Love Tropical Gardens in Hawaii

No tropical gardens in Hawaii are complete with hibiscus.

Who doesn’t love tropical gardens in Hawaii? An essential feature on my list to buy a house in Hawaii last winter was to find a place that would lend itself to gardening. Well, apart from an ocean view and being affordable. I say these things were on my list instead of “our” list because my husband didn’t have a list since he wasn’t particularly interested in buying a house in Hawaii.

It wasn’t so much that he wasn’t particularly interested, now that I pause to reflect, he was, in fact, downright opposed to it. Although, I do believe he will appreciate being able to plant just about anything in our tropical gardens in Hawaii.

I planted this poinsettia in our tropical gardens in Hawaii.

We have palm trees, an avocado tree, fig tree, 20-year hibiscus, crotons, ferns, pineapples, orchids, ixora, and a bunch of birds of paradise, among other vegetations and plants. I picked up a poinsettia yesterday and planted it in an available space in the yard. Also, I am beginning to scatter orchids among the trees.

Do you know you can grow pineapple by cutting off the top and sticking it in the soil here? The plant in the photo below that is not an orchid is one such pineapple.

Moth orchid and pineapple in our tropical gardens in Hawaii

At home in Sacramento I have orchids on the window sill over my sink. It’s south facing, and the orchids love the light and humidity in that location. But in Hawaii, orchids thrive outdoors. If I lived here year-round, I would fill the trees with orchids galore. This would be an orchid jungle. But as it is only a vacation home, it makes sense to stick with options for more affordable tropical gardens in Hawaii.

When we were in Kauai a few years ago, we toured the National Tropical Botanical Gardens on the south side, where they filmed a few scenes for Jurassic Park. One of the major contributors to the gardens had traveled all over the world to collect tropical plants for this garden. That seems like such a thrilling and fulfilling purpose for one’s life.

We have an enclosed courtyard with tropical gardens, volcanic rock, shells, and black-as-midnight slate stepping stones. It’s a far cry from the beautiful home I considered in Kealakekua that would have required removing all of the cement from the yard to garden. There was no place to tend to tropical gardens in Hawaii at that house, not like at this home in Kailua-Kona.

Update July 10, 2017: I came back to our house at the end of June and found the once-happy Poinsettia with droopy leaves and looking very pathetic, sad. Upon inspection, I discovered hundreds of mealybugs on the under leaves, sucking out all of its life. Treatment consists of repeated attempts, and 10 days isn’t long enough to take care of the problem.

So, with a heavy heart, I had to dig it up and throw it away. The mealybugs don’t like anything else in my garden, just the poinsettia.