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

Nature in Bloom: ʻŌhiʻa Lehua

Hello all!

I've decided to try to add some variety to my posts and not make it all about shopping, shopping, shopping lol. So, I've come up with a segment that I think would fit nicely into my blog: Nature in Bloom.

For my first post, I would like to introduce you to the beautiful ʻōhiʻa lehua or also known as Metrosideros polymorpha, which is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. My mom said that it was nothing but a little twig dying at her ex-boyfriend's house and she decided to try to revive it. Fast-forward to present time and this is what's blooming right now! It's absolutely beautiful and the flowers make gorgeous leis. This is growing on the side of our house, but we'll have to move it towards the back since there's more room for it to grow. Unfortunately, it has quite a thick root already buried in the soil and to move it would hurt the tree, but it has to be done.

Many things endemic to Hawaii usually carries a backstory or myth to it. The story about the ʻōhiʻa lehua goes a little something like this: ʻŌhiʻa and Lehua were lovers. The volcano goddess, Pele, was attracted to ʻŌhiʻa but ʻŌhiʻa was in love with Lehua. Jealous, Pele turned ʻŌhiʻa in a tree. Lehua was saddened and the gods took pity on her and turned her into a flower on the tree. Some say that Pele felt bad for Lehua and turned her into the flower herself. But now they are reunited and together forever! They also say that if you pluck the flowers, it will rain to symbolize the separation of the two lovers. I don't want to pluck the flowers just because the flowers match so well with the foliage. Another sign that they were meant to be together :)

I hope you all enjoyed this little post! To learn more about the ʻōhiʻa lehua, click here.

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN