Garden in the clouds

From the moment you step into the garden in front of the Slater home in Pacific Heights, you’re drawn in. Perhaps it’s the colorful orchids growing on top of the rock wall on the left, or the broad staghorn fern slung from a tree, or the way the concrete pavers skip along a green lawn leading up to a white gate.

The gate opens up to a long, outdoor corridor that runs the length of the home, offering a clear view to the verdant Koolau in back.

The century-old home, named Hale ‘Opua (House in the Clouds), offers views on all sides. Here, gentle breezes mix with regular rainfall of about 120 inches a year.

Bobbie Slater remembers the property was a fixer-upper when she purchased it with her husband, Cliff, four decades ago. They immediately fell in love with the views and openness.

"There is something magical about this place we are so fortunate to call our home," she said. "We are not the only ones attached here. Two other families that have lived here have come back to visit."

Slater, 72, paints watercolor portraits of plants. While taking artistic inspiration from her garden, she returns the favor by adding artistic touches to the outdoor spaces, whether it’s a vase of flowers here, a wicker chair there or Spanish moss draped over a tree.

Scenic Hawaii recognized the garden with a Betty Crocker Landscape and Garden Award (named after one the group’s founders) in 2004, and the Smithsonian Institution cataloged it in its Archive of American Gardens last year.

The Slaters’ son, Cole, designed the entryway, built the pond and wood deck, and with the help of friends, hauled 44 tons of rock to install a series of steps along the hillside. The asphalt that covered a section of the front yard was replaced with 2,500 squares of grass sod.

The projects were completed over the summer and weekends while Cole Slater was a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He would go on to get a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, though he is now vice president of design at Maui Divers Jewelry.

Five years ago the Slaters’ daughter, Jessica, got married in the backyard just as the sun was setting on the far side of Pauoa Valley, casting a romantic golden glow over the scene.

The ceremony took place where two rocking chairs now perch on the edge of a broad lawn, offering vistas of the ocean, valley and mountains behind.

"A garden in Hawaii is a constantly evolving thing," she said. "It’s always growing."

Part of its evolution involved taming the forest on the three-quarters of an acre, and another part was figuring out what thrives best in which location. A stephanotis vine, for instance, decided to grow on top of a tree, seeking sunshine, instead of along an archway.

They put in every plant and tree, but some of them, like a maidenhair fern wall and coconut tree, grew naturally. Slater calls them "volunteers."

The stone steps lead down from the lawn and along a circular path where visitors could easily get lost in the tropical forest.

There’s a surprise at every turn.

There are night-blooming cereus, which produce dragonfruit, and dancing lady orchids grow on a silver oak. Asparagus fern and lauae mingle with the roots of a banyan tree along a rock face.

"I feel peaceful here," said Bobbie Slater.

There is a quiet reading area with a simple wooden chair and table beneath the shade of a ficus tree. In another spot a "Starry Night" mosaic bench she made sits in a small clearing that offers a view of the ocean.

Fruit trees include longan, guava, sapodilla, papaya and cacao.

"We use whatever we grow," said Slater, who makes fruit jams and breads.

Beneath the trees are sturdy bromeliads, shell ginger and heliconia as well as native akia and kupukupu ferns.

The garden offers plenty of other gifts from nature — a spontaneous rainbow over the mountains, for instance, and a lime-colored lotus blooming in the pond.

"Garden Party" spotlights unique and exceptional gardens. Contact us via email at features@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4808.