I think we’ve posted a picture or two of our African Nutmeg (Monodora myristica) in the past, but the tree has only given us a couple flowers in the summer the last two years. This July, we are enjoying the first major, full set of flowers covering our specimen. They are gorgeous. If you come [...]

There are a lot of scented bloomers in our garden right now, and I wanted to share some photos of our magnolia varieties. All of them are in bloom right now!. Magnolias are some of the oldest flowers around. They evolved before there were bees, and so have a rather primitive flower structure. They originated [...]

Sorry for our tardiness in updating this blog. We have a lot of photos to share with you from the past months, so stay tuned for more frequent updates and new posts. Last August we posted pictures of our Caryota gigas with it’s giant, stunning young inflorescences. Well, the first set of those braided-looking bundles [...]

A delicate beautiful Medinilla is blooming right now. It looks like a little fairy chandelier. We don’t know what species it is. Our larger, more robust Medinilla magnifica blooms more frequently and has been in the ground a while. It’s also showing off right now: We also have a little orange once keeping the M. [...]

Sorry we haven’t added a new post lately, it has been a very busy fall! Check out our Galleries page–photos are finally being posted there.  A lovely couple who visited our gardens from North Carolina in September were kind enough to mail us a CD with hundreds of beautiful images.  You’ll find a nice collection [...]

Caryota gigas, known as the “Giant Fishtail Palm” or “Caryota King Kong,” is a monocarpic palm, meaning it blooms just once in its life and then dies! Our Giant Fishtail’s flank our Anini Stream valley, providing a beautiful palette of texture when seen from afar and towering above when walking amongst them. One of ours [...]

It’s official! Ahonui Botanical Gardens will now be sampling our homegrown and homemade organic dark chocolate during the chocolate tastings on our public tours, three days per week. For the time being, we believe we are the only place on the island of Kauai where you can try 100% Kauai Grown Chocolate! Hopefully, that will [...]

While the Hawaiians make leis and necklaces out of flowers, ti leaves and kukui nuts, there are thousands of natural products that world cultures use for beads and decoration. Here are two unusual ones—the first is blooming for the second time right now, the second bloomed for the first time early this last spring. First, [...]

Ahonui Botanical Gardens is full of exotic medicinal fruits and plants from around the world. Phaleria macrocarpa is a particularly potent medicinal that has been used in India and Indonesia for hundreds of years. The people of Indonesia call it Mahkota Dewa, which translates directly to “God’s Crown.” Our specimen has been producing fruit for [...]

Our Acerola Cherry Tree (Malpighia emarginata) is loaded with fruit right now. It seems to have two fruiting seasons: the fall and the late spring. We’ve been having a wet spring and early summer, so the cherries continue to ripen even as we approach the Solstice. I’d suspect they would be done by now in [...]