Sadhu Paksha, Day Eight

We continue with our quiet retreat. We bring you some photos from our retreat day and last night’s sunset over Mt. Waialeale, the extinct volcano just a few miles from the monastery.

This retreat an amazing new collection of 40 species of palms arrived at the monastery. In all we have some 150 species andvarieties in the temple gardens. Here are the new additions in the back of our little garden wagon, their roots protected during their travels to Kauai by moss. These came from a collector on the Big Island, which is about 500 miles from here

This is a close up of a few of them, showing the signs. The nursery made the white tags to identify the palms, but Palaniswami redid them all in aluminum which will last for several decades out in the tropical weather.

They are quite healthy, as you can see. A few among them are the GREAT PALMS of the world, giants that will live for almost 100 years and grow to stunning sizes.

They were all put into deep pots, since palms have long roots. Here they are in the late afternoon ready to grow in our little propagation nursery.

They are placed on pallets. That way, if they need to be moved into a new area (they will like more sun as they mature, but like to start in shade), we can move them with our Bobcat, making the work much easier.

Three palms in one big, 15-gallon pot. We are grateful to those who are inspired by the monastery gardens and have helped support the collection of tropical plants from around the world.

Yoginathaswami is our local orchid expert. One of his plants is in bloom today.

And another!

Ever magical views over the mountain range to the west… certain configurations of clouds above and clear skies right over the mountains deliver incredible light shows…

Ever new, ever wondrous gifts of nature…