Pua Mau Place brings beauty to unlikely locale

During winter, 100 mph winds have shredded shrubs, uprooted trees, snapped thick branches and sheared the tops off palms in Kawaihae, the coastal community in the northwestern district of Hawaii island.

Irrigation water there is brackish, which many plants can’t tolerate. Even if they are lightly sprayed with this water, the salt residue burns their leaves.

Kawaihae’s average annual rainfall is just 3 to 10 inches, and it has one of the highest levels of insolation (solar radiation) on earth, meaning temperatures during the summer often soar to the 90s. Only the hardiest plant species can survive in those hot, dry conditions.

Considering that, Kawaihae would be one of the least likely locales for a botanical garden in Hawaii, and yet there is Pua Mau Place — proof of the rewards of patience and hard work.

Irina Place’s late husband, Virgil, began creating the oasis in the mid-1970s. Its name Pua Mau, meaning "everblooming," expresses his desire to preserve and propagate indigenous plant life that could flourish in a largely barren area year-round.

Raised on a small farm in Indiana, Virgil, a physician, was blessed with a green thumb. Whenever and wherever he traveled, botanical gardens were on his itinerary. He fell in love with Hawaii island in the 1970s when he attended medical conferences at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

"Virgil saw the hotel’s beautifully landscaped grounds, and he knew a garden in Kawaihae was not such a crazy idea," Place said. "In 1974, lots were being sold at Kohala Estates, the first subdivision in the area. To Virgil, that was an opportunity to put down roots, literally and figuratively, so he bought a 22-acre lot. He wanted to live in a warm climate, surrounded by colorful flowers, in his old age. He wanted to work on a project that would always keep him busy, that would never be finished. He got his wish."

Not knowing what plants would thrive in an arid, windy environment with brackish water, Virgil sought advice from University of Hawaii botanists. They responded, "When you find out, tell us."

Undaunted, Virgil painstakingly laid the groundwork for his little piece of paradise. He headed to Kawaihae from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area for working vacations four times a year at first, then more often, even if it was just for a few days.

In the 1980s, Virgil became a resident of Hawaii. He thoroughly enjoyed his Kawaihae escape; being dirty and sweaty when the sun went down meant he’d had a fulfilling day.

"Virgil was not afraid of challenges, pushing boundaries and reaching for the improbable," Place said. "He had a dream, and he was intent on bringing it to fruition. In our visitors center, we display photographs from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s showing the garden’s different stages of development."

The owners of the adjacent 23-acre parcel donated it to Pua Mau Place in 1996, the same year the garden was established as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity. It welcomed its first visitors four years later, on Oct. 1, 2000.

Virgil died in March, and Place is continuing his work with the help of five employees. Just 13 of the garden’s 45 acres have been landscaped, and she knows much more can be done.

"You could ask a very good question: Why do we bother?" Place said. "On a clear day you can see five mountains from the garden: Hualalai, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Kohala and Hale­akala on Maui. Sunsets are so magnificent they feel like religious experiences. During the winter, whales play along the coast. The moon rises in the starry sky with the dignity of a queen. It’s so bright, you can read a book in its light."

Pua Mau Place rests on the western slopes of the Kohala Mountains. Mulch-covered paths wind past deep ravines, lava rock walls and more than 150 different kinds of plants, including 200 varieties of vivid hibiscus. The plants are allowed to grow naturally; they’re not pruned to prim perfection.

One intriguing species is the pau o Hii­aka (skirt of Hii­aka), a native vine that makes an excellent ground cover. Legend says the volcano goddess Pele returned from surfing one morning and found Hii­aka, her younger sister, asleep on the beach with the vine draped over her to protect her from the sun. When conditions are dry, silver hairs appear on pau o Hii­aka to help reflect the sun’s rays. When rain falls, the hairs disappear.

Also delighting visitors are more than 30 whimsical sculptures standing up to 7 feet tall. In 1996 the Places were enthralled by a photo exhibit of magnified insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

"They were as fascinating as the museum’s famous displays of dinosaur fossils," Place said. "It was Virgil’s idea to put giant sculptures of insects in the garden."

The bronze sculptures were custom-made in Thailand and Hong Kong, according to Virgil’s detailed instructions. Children love to scramble atop a wide assortment of insects; a crane, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros and Galapagos tortoise are among the other creatures residing amid the greenery. Rounding out Pua Mau Place’s menagerie are real chickens, peacocks, red-footed turtles and a 50-pound desert tortoise.

Place’s favorite spot in the garden is the Magic Circle, a miniature Stonehenge. Stones aligned with compass points and the movements of the sun at solstices and equinoxes surround a bedrock where visitors sit to enjoy the views, meditate and make a wish.

"We’re had multiple reports that wishes made in the Magic Circle have come true," Place said. "On my evening walks in the garden, I stop there and rest. Despite all the difficulties with the wind, the heat and the irrigation expenses, doing that brings Virgil’s vision into focus for me again, and I find the strength to persevere — to keep this garden, his dream, alive."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Sta-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.