Purchase Your Own Private Botanical Garden on Kauai

Often called the Garden Isle, it’s no secret that Kaua’i is home to a diverse spectrum of flora. The verdant landscape glows in emerald, teeming with lush tropical botanicals. Kaua’i is home to three out of five of National Tropical Botanical Gardens in the U.S. Their team of botanists are dedicated to preserving tropical plant diversity and reducing plant extinction through exploration, propagation, habitat restoration, scientific research, and education.

Double Pink Hibiscus Flower | Night blooming Cereus | Allspice

The McBryde Garden in Poipu boasts the largest collection of native Hawaiian plants in existence. Most of these plants are endemic (occurring only in Hawai‘i), and many are threatened, endangered, or even extinct in the wild.

Yellow, Red, and Purple Hibiscus

Invasive Species Control

Preservation of native plant habitats has become so important that the island has resorted to unusual methods of weed and invasive species control. Because the island’s favorable climate also allows invasive species to proliferate, elimination of these non-native species is a priority for endemic flora preservation.

At the Makauwahi Cave Reserve in Poipu, three giant African spurred tortoises serve as weed eaters, helping to keep invasive species in check. The tortoises are credited for aiding the survival of over 5,000 different native plants.

Giant tortoises help protect native plant habitat by eating invasive weeds

Jacaranda Hill Estate

Tucked away in the rolling hills of Kalaheo, only a 15 minute drive from Poipu, there is a unique property for sale (MLS# 291258) that boasts hundreds of species of tropical botanicals, including dozens of varieties of fruit and flowering trees, twelve colonies of orchids, and several endangered native plants. 

4 bed home surrounded by a 3-acre botanical garden in Kalaheo | Offered at $1,350,000 fee simple

Named Jacaranda Hill after the large jacaranda tree that greets you at the entrance, the three-acre estate is a showcase of Kauai’s botanical beauty. As you drive past the workshop and guest cottage towards the main house, you are enveloped by the delightful fragrance of gardenia, magnolia, and citrus. The approach to the 2,800 square foot main house is lined with Hong Kong orchid trees, spider lilies, heliconias, and serveral types of ginger. 

Fragrant Jacaranda tree in bloom | Citrus grove

The expansive grounds also feature endangered, native munroidenedron (one of 40 remaining colonies) and wiliwili, plus medicinal noni, native hibiscus and kukui, and five types of shower trees that bloom with a spectacular palette of colors.

Endangered Munroidendron | Queen shower tree