Garden Photo of the Day

Let’s go on a 3-day tropical vacation!

As much as we've all loved these subtly beautiful photos of our winter gardens lately, don't you think it's time for some tropical medicine? Today's photos are from Tia Scarce out in Edmonds, Washington (see her former garden HERE and HERE), but the photos are from sunny Hawaii! Tia says, "Does anyone need some color inspiration in the middle of winter? I recently visited Hawaii for the first time and took way too many plant pictures. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of landscapes and experiences available there, from beach to mountaintop, arid to tropical. Most of these photos were taken at Kula Botanical Garden in the “upcountry” part of Maui. I wish I had more wide shots but it was like being in the jungle without much chance for that long view. I’ve no idea what most of these are but identified what I do know." Aaaaahhhhhhhh…..so nice, Tia. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And we'll be thanking Tia for two more days…..she sent in lots of photos!!

Send me photos of YOUR garden! Email me at [email protected]

Come and meet up at the  Northwest Flower and Garden Show this year!

I'm scheduled to give another GPOD talk (A few of you will be getting emails in the next two weeks as I put together the slideshow…), and a number of people have emailed to say that they'll be at the show, and that they'd love to meet up with a bunch of fellow GPODers!

The RSVPs so far:

Glenda Curdy (Nurserynotnordstrom)
May Kald (GrannyMay) – tentative
Catherine Campbell (CrannyCC) – tentative
Tia Scarce
Jeanne Cronce (Greengenes)
Sheila Schultz
Nora
Shirley Graves
Chris Niblack (ChrisSeattle)
Kielian DeWitt (Annek)
Linda Skyler (Meelianthus)
Kathy Schuler

So…who else is going to be there?? Let us all know in the comments, and we can start planning an outing! Perhaps after-dinner drinks one night at the bar at the Sheraton?  I'll repeat this announcement for the next week or so, at least, and keep a running list of who's coming….enticement for even more people to come. Oh, and when you comment to say you'll be there, give us your real name so that I can plan name tags that include both that and your screen name…

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That’s my go-to palette. Thanks, Maui!

I need to find more ways to use this sort of foliage drama.

At Kula Botanical Garden

Hedychium coronarium, hardy to zone 7b

Sorry this is a bit blurry, but I thought the color was really stunning.

I love some great bark in the garden.

The obligatory protea bloom shot

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Comments

  1. perenniallycrazy 01/13/2015

    Thanks for taking us to tropical Maui for the next three days Tia! Aloha everyone.

  2. User avater
    meander_michaele 01/13/2015

    Well, Tia, vibrant orange never looked so good! Seeing your pictures really drove home how those so alive colors are absent for those of us who experience temps close to freezing and below. So, thanks to you, we all get to enjoy a cyber vacation to Hawaii..and (smile) it doesn't even matter that I forgot to pack my bathing suit. Thanks so much!

  3. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 01/13/2015

    A stunning tropical treat. Thanks, Tia!

  4. NCYarden 01/13/2015

    I am amazed, and so glad, such places exist. One of the destinations I definitely want to travel to at some point. Thanks for warming me up with these photos, especially as we have an icy system moving in on us here.

    1. User avater
      meander_michaele 01/13/2015

      Hi, David, I guess it's a rolling random toss of the dice but one of the pictures in the 2 rows of the "You Might Like" feature was your garden... so I couldn't resist clicking and revisiting. I just have to say, Wow, again...what an amazing wealth of wonderful plant material you have. Ha, I even got hit with another attack of pineapple lily envy.

      1. NCYarden 01/13/2015

        Oh, thank you so much Michaele. It makes me smile you find it so appealing. I found myself looking at them recently too (partly because we have made some significant modifications this Fall) and longing for Spring already. But I have some larger winter chores I really want to get done, so I'm not not quite wishing winter away yet. Though I am a little nervous about this potential ice event they have predicted for this evening. Hopefully no substantial garden damage. I hope to have some winter photos before long as the hellebores, flowering apricots, daphnes and edgeworthias are on the verge of busting open.

        1. greengenes 01/13/2015

          Iam butting in I know but your edgeworthias do okay through the cold? A friend of mine gave me a beautiful large plant and it grew so so well this last summer and this fall it was filled with buds. Then we were down to the high teens for a few days and nights and all the blooms have melted away! Is there some secret about growing these?

          1. NCYarden 01/13/2015

            I'm certainly unsure of any secret. Might even be pure luck with a microclimate in my garden. I have been successful growing them, even through some short cold extremes; I have even been successful with my one Akebono cultivar, which is apparently not supposed to do so well here. So far so good, and fingers tightly crossed. Oddly I grow them in fairly dry woodland, though the past 2 years have been really wet during Fall and Winter. The only thing I notice is that I think the slightly dryer than desired conditions keep height growth a little stunted, which is fine with me. I remove the base suckers about every other year (don't ask we why because I just realized I have no good reason for this quirky practice...ha maybe this is the "secret"...probably not). Other than that, I sit back, inhale, and enjoy.

          2. greengenes 01/13/2015

            Iam glad its working out for you with these wonderful plants! The name of mine I believe is "Akebono" as well. Maybe next year for mine. Thanks...

  5. greengenes 01/13/2015

    What a treat to wake up to! And for the next few days! I can smell the tropical air and hear the rustling of the foliage with a warm breeze at my face.Oh...I just woke up! Iam standing in front of the heater after putting on some perfume getting ready to go town. Gosh darn it anyway! Ha ha...Thanks so much Tia for sending these in for us. Isnt that wonderful bark on those trunks! And cant you imagine having those red plants in picture number 5 in your garden? Hm...how about making some garden art anyone? Wow to it all! Hope you had a wonderful time! Thanks for the get a way!

    1. digginWA 01/13/2015

      Oh, now you've done it. Imagine those red plants rendered in glass!

      1. greengenes 01/13/2015

        Oh Yah! I imagine Chahulli glass has aready been there, done that! But how gorgeous that would be! For our gardens here I had thought of some sort of thin metal which would rust and all you need to do is cut it into shapes and solder it on! WooHoo! Hm... I will give this a lot of thought! Maybe the garden show will have some of this sort! Right now iam making some cement balls. I mix the cement up and put it in these round glass globes, let it harden and break the glass off. They turn out pretty cool. You can either cover them in mosaic or just leave them plain, which is what iam doing. Soon they will get weathered looking and maybe even some moss! Do you ever get over this way? Across the Narrows Bridge we are, not far from Gig harbor.You are so welcome to stop by sometime.

        1. digginWA 01/13/2015

          I've only been over the bridge once for a day trip to GH. Lovely place and thanks for the invite--I'll give you a shout on one of the weekends when there are NPA open gardens in the area.

          I like your idea of rusty metal foliage. I'll bet we can find someone at the show capable of realizing that vision. Hmmm ...

          I'll leave you with some glass inspiration I saw in Seattle recently.

          1. greengenes 01/14/2015

            Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!!!

          2. User avater
            meander_michaele 01/14/2015

            Oops, I just embarrassed myself by drooling all over my keyboard when I looked at this picture. Those are absolutely gorgeous!

  6. GrannyMay 01/13/2015

    Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories, Tia! I visited Hawaii in the fall of 2012 and was also amazed by the variety of the landscapes, arid desert to grasslands to lush tropical, as well as the expanses of barren lava. What I had expected to see, the gorgeous flamboyant plants that we can only dream about here, were everywhere as well, in numbers that totally exceeded my hopes.

    I highly recommend visiting the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens near Hilo on the big island of Hawaii if you have the chance.

    1. digginWA 01/13/2015

      I've heard the big island recommended more than once. Perhaps I need to go back and try them all. Botanical research. Yeah. That's it.

      1. schatzi 01/13/2015

        and when you go, I want to go with you!

        1. GrannyMay 01/13/2015

          Just a dream right now, but you never know!

      2. GrannyMay 01/13/2015

        Yes, the perfect vacation for me would be to tour all the botanical gardens in the Hawaiian islands. Getting from one to another is also a botanical dream!

        1. digginWA 01/13/2015

          Let's do it. Michelle will have GPOD pics forever.

  7. GrannyCC 01/13/2015

    What a wonderful get away Tia. I have been to that garden and it took me back to sunshine , warm winds and beautiful scent from the eucalyptus trees. I think that is what the trees are with the peeling bark. They were all along the roads as you climbed to the volcano and what a scent it was. I think the last flower is a Protea which come in such wonderful shapes and colours.

    On the topic of the flower show, I have just heard that I will be having my hip surgery in February so May and I will be skipping the show this year but hopefully we can come next year. So take lots of pictures so we can enjoy vicariously!

    1. greengenes 01/13/2015

      Oh GrannyCC Kathrine! So sad... I was hoping to meet you. But I totally understand and wish you well and with a speedy recovery!

      1. GrannyMay 01/13/2015

        Yes, we will miss seeing everyone this year. Catherine and I are great gardening buddies and I would not enjoy going without her. A large part of the fun is to talk about what we would like to have from the show to include in our own gardens.

    2. Meelianthus 01/13/2015

      Hello Catherine ~ So glad you did get your date for your hip surgery. I think I expressed to you what a wonderful new life it gave my hips. My recovery was slow but such a relief ! and you will be out gardening by mid-Spring. Best to you and sorry to not be able to meet you at the NWFG. Best to you - Linda

  8. schatzi 01/13/2015

    Thank you for the gorgeous pictures, Tia. Looking forward to the next 2 days. Sorry Catherine and May won't be able to come to the F&GS this year - I was looking forward to meeting you in person. Next year for sure! Good luck with the surgery. I wish you a speedy recovery so you can get back to enjoying life and the garden. And David, good luck with your plants and the freeze. The snow pictures were nice, but I don't miss having to deal with it. Here I can drive to the snow if I really want to. When we were young, we skied every weekend and it was wonderful. These days, not so much. 4 of my Hellebores are blooming and I have one lonely grape hyacinth that has been in bloom since before Christmas - I think it's in stasis!

    1. GrannyCC 01/14/2015

      We are really sorry we can't come. Thank you Shirley for your good wishes. I am so looking forward to a reduction in my pain level and to get back to gardening.

  9. debralacy 01/13/2015

    Houseplants everywhere! I miss Hawaii.

    1. digginWA 01/14/2015

      That's what I said when I first got there! Ha.

  10. terieLR 01/13/2015

    Inhale...exhale. I do believe my eyes bulged when I first started to scroll. They have grown accustomed to grey, brown and well, greyish-brown with white all around. As much as I adore winter vistas this was very refreshing. So thank you for day one Tia... and two & three. So happy that you will have these wonderful memories.

    1. digginWA 01/14/2015

      It's almost hard on the retinas, isn't it?

  11. emmafisher 07/24/2023

    Did you like Hawaii? Because I vacationed there last summer and it was one of the best trips of my life. I always rent a car for my vacations to be able to explore the area better, and sometimes I have to spend a lot of time choosing a rental company. But in Hawaii, I didn't have to do that because I rented a car at the airport right after I arrived, it was my first experience with airport rentals and I chose Alamo. In the blog article I read about the company and the details of the rental

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