Nature in Bloom: Ohai Ali'i

Phew! It's been a while since I did a Nature in Bloom post. I'm still in the process of getting my lavender to grow but unfortunately, they seem to be taking the long route towards blossoming lol. I have a couple shoots but it's been that way for a long time. I suppose I just have to be patient and keep at it!

My mom had an Ohai Ali'i tree that she wanted to transplant into the ground. It was literally a little shoot or sprig, but once we put it into the ground, it really took off! It could have also been due to the fact that my Uncle brought over pigeon droppings and placed it around the plant hehe.

I took it upon myself to dig a hole that was originally supposed to be for the Ohia Lehua, but because it was kind of deeply rooted into the ground on the side of the house and that it was way bigger than the hole that I dug, I suggested to plant the Ohai Ali'i instead. As you can see, the Ohai Ali'i is a fern tree that puts out these pretty little red-orange blossoms. These trees are only found on the islands of Hawaii and Tahiti. Also, the flowers carry no fragrance, but they can be made into beautiful leis. I'm not sure if they bloom all year around, but they really started blooming since last month or June.

Here is a picture of the Ohai Ali'i. Please excuse the weeds and long grass growing around it!

A close-up on the flowers. They're really pretty and quite cute!

Here is a picture of a lei using the blossoms. Photo credit goes to the Hawaiian Lei Company.

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN