Winter in Siva's Gardens/Nepalese Rudrakshas
February 27, 2024It's another brutal Kauai winter, with temperatures plummeting below 60 degrees on rare occasions. Even in those extreme conditions, Kauai plants sing their little songs and surrender their gifts of color and beauty for pilgrims to enjoy.
Yesterday we stumbled on one of our two Saraca indica trees in bloom. After some 25 years, it is flowering freely, not phased by the 68 degrees morning temperature. It is a famous tree in India, a sacred one. Pujaris love it, so efficient--you can pluck a single flower and have 300 florets to offer to Siva.
To celebrate this event, we offer other blossoms and plants that are happening now. At the end of the slideshow we see the first sprouting of the Rudraksha trees from Nepal, the miraculous expression of life.
Remember the adage (whose source is apparently lost in time):
"That nation is great in which the elders plant trees under the shade of which they will never sit."
The Saraca indica inflorescence.
Quite a sight.
The florets are about half an inch wide.
A rare orchid blooms, the giant Grammatophyllum measuresianum.
A drone looks down on the top of an albezia tree.
Massive seed structure of a palm near Rishi from the Himalayas.
Yell9ow aloe in Rishi Valley.
A slpecial palm soaks in the sun near Tirumular.
The American oil palm in bloom. This inflorescence is about four feet long.
This is the first year our Dragon Fruits have given multiple fruits.
Star Trek like to put these on the breakfast counter to indicate alien edibles.
A brain cactus near the Media Studio.
Colorful agave. Beware the thorns!
Philodendron brasil near the Wailua River
Heliconia Shogun, a fuzzy show off.
It is soft, like a teddy bear.
Look closely and you wil see the Rudraksha seedling from Nepal bursting into life and leaf.
Amazing it is giving shoots so quickly.
Over half so far, and more to come. One day this will be a Nepalese Rudraksha Grove giving unique beads that are lighter than ours and even more intricately \"carved.\"
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