Kauai: Visiting the Botanical Gardens

Our friends arranged for all of  us to tour the National Botanical Gardens.  I’m not a plant expert by any means, and I know a lot of people who would have appreciated this experience even more than I.  I had a great time.  Some of the plants were so unique and interesting.

Here is a rainbow eucalyptus tree.  It actually was near the gift shop and not a part of the tour, but it was one of my favorite plants.

The gardens have served as the backdrop for a number of recent Hollywood films.  The one I was most familiar with was Jurassic Park.  This bamboo grove was also seen in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  I’m not a movie watcher, so that was kind of lost on me, but still interesting.   These flowers were called double buttercups, I believe.  They were growing on a tree that had no leaves at all.  I think the leaves come after the flowers, which signal a move from the dormant state into a new season for the tree.  They were so cheerful.  There were three giant Moreton bay fig trees in the garden, and this was probably my very favorite part, because I love the texture of tree roots.  The buttressing roots on these trees were amazing.  Actually, all three gigantic trees were amazing.  I would have liked to spend a few hours just hanging out with the trees.  We were on a tour, though, so our time was limited.  Here’s a little group picture to help you understand the size of those roots:These trees played a bit part in a famous scene from Jurassic Park, when they find the raptor eggs.