Next stop on our tour of Wailuku included a visit to the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens.
There’s no entrance fee to wander around the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens which makes it an even better tour stop! It’s a nice place to spend a pleasant afternoon with your kids or just to take a walk and have lunch. Conveniently located near the Harbor, it’s easy to find on Kanaloa Ave with parking on the side street. Maui Nui Botanical Gardens is a non-profit organization that relies on its volunteers to keep the gardens green. There are picnic tables and covered areas for large groups as well as a playground and ample lawn space for families and get-togethers.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays there are tours of the gardens at 10:00am where the volunteer docent will explain what you are seeing and the history behind each plant and tree (a $5 donation per person is appreciated). Special tours can be pre-arranged for your group by calling the Gardens ahead of time. If you are exploring on your own, they offer a full color Virtual Walking Tour map for $4.
We met an amazing worker there named Gloria Adlawan. Since we had missed the tour, Gloria explained about some of the plants and trees that had specifically caught my eye. Among my favorites is a tree called the Hala tree. This tree is amazing… it’s in the pine family and the female Hala tree produces a fruit that looks very much like a pineapple. The individual sections that make up this pineapple-looking fruit can be eaten or dried. When it’s dried, the section separates into fine “hairs” that traditional Hawaiians would use as paint brushes. The lau (leaf) was woven to make floor mats or sails for canoes.
If you’re looking for something quick, fun and FREE to do, please stop by the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. Take a walk, have a picnic and remember to give Gloria a warm howdy and if you can spare a few bucks, share those too! Mahalo!
