Merry Christmas from Hawai’i!

Poinsettias. They’re the ultimate Christmassy-image of Hawai’i, if you live on the mainland.
And back when I lived on the mainland, poinsettias were something that I got at the grocery store or hardware store, starting around Thanksgiving.
It wasn’t until I’d moved here … it was that first Christmas season, and I was driving down the road, and had that head-whipping motion when I suddenly realized: THAT was a poinsettia!
It wasn’t the color or form that threw me off – it was the huge (gargantuan!) size. About the size of a garden shed.

I realized that the small, “tame” poinsettias that we had on the mainland were a shadow of the real thing. Here, they grow to be the size of a small car … an SUV … a garden shed.

I just had my COVID-19 booster on Thursday, and am still a bit wobbly – so no more news from me today. Instead of writing (or doing much of anything), I swung by the Painted Church in Captain Cook, which has a lovely garden overlooking the Pacific ocean. I remembered that it had lovely poinsettias, and snapped a few quick pics just after dawn.

The one above is one of my favorites – and the kind of image that I was hoping to find for you. The bright red poinsettias are a given, but the surprise factor is a special kind of “small cluster” poinsettia – usually in white – and the two make such a wonderful pairing! You can see one of those in the background above.

I do hope to be with you more during this coming week.

Have a lovely day, darlings!

Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Scientist, Themesis, Inc.