Allerton Garden, also known as Lāwai-kai, is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, originally created by Robert Allerton and John Gregg Allerton, located on the south shore of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The garden covers an area and is situated beside the Lāwai Bay, in a valley transected by the Lāwai Stream. It is one of the five gardens of the non-profit

National Tropical Botanical Garden The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit institution dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. It operates a network of botanical gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida. History I ...

Garden history

Queen Emma of Hawaii Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She was later a candidate for the throne but King Kalākaua was elect ...

resided above this valley for a short interval, and a modest house that was perhaps her residence has subsequently been moved to the valley floor and renovated. The entire valley, including what is now the adjacent

McBryde Garden McBryde Garden (approx. ) is a botanical garden located on the south shore of Kauai, Hawaii. It is one of five gardens of the non-profit National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG). The garden is situated above Lāwai Bay, in a valley transecte ...

, was purchased by the McBryde family in the late 19th century for a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. Robert Allerton, who had a lifelong passion for garden design, sculpture, and landscape architecture had already expressed it at "The Farms" estate and sculpture gardens in Illinois (now

Robert Allerton Park The Robert Allerton Park is a park, nature center, and conference center located in the rural Piatt County township of Willow Branch, (T 18 N, R 5 E) near Monticello, Illinois, on the upper Sangamon River. The park and manor house, ''The Farms ...

). His adopted son John Gregg Allerton had studied architecture at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in the 1920s. In 1938 they came to Hawaii and purchased a relatively small portion of Queen Emma's plantation for a residence and gardens. They quickly began designing the landscape master plan and individual gardens, incorporating Hawaiian and new plants they had acquired from tropical Asia and other Pacific Islands, built landscape elements, and sculptures from "The Farms."

Tropical Botanical Garden

Allerton would later join a group of individuals and organizations who were pushing for the establishment of a tropical botanical garden on U.S. soil. In his final year before he died, Allerton was able to witness the charter being granted and the creation of the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden (now

). John Gregg Allerton maintained the garden until his death in 1986, and left it in trust. In the early 1990s, management was assumed by the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the garden was named after its founding fathers.

Garden touring

Allerton Garden includes garden rooms, pools, miniature waterfalls, fountains, and statues. It is open to visitors. An admission fee is charged. ---- Image:Allerton Garden, Kauai, Hawaii - Lawai Bay.JPG, Lāwai Bay Image:Allerton Garden, Kauai, Hawaii - Mermaid Fountain.JPG, Mermaid Fountain Image:Allerton Garden, Kauai, Hawaii - stream.JPG, Diana Waterfall (below Diana Fountain) Image:Allerton Garden, Kauai, Hawaii - Garden walk.JPG, Garden walk

Films and TV

This picturesque setting has been used in a number of films and TV shows, including '' South Pacific'', ''

Donovan's Reef ''Donovan's Reef'' is a 1963 American adventure comedy film starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. It was directed by John Ford and filmed in Kauai, Hawaii, but is set in French Polynesia. The supporting cast features Elizabeth Allen, Jack War ...

'', ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'', ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'' and ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

References

* ''National Tropical Botanical Garden: Allerton Garden'' (brochure), May 2006. * ''The Robert Allerton Story'', by Kathryn Hulme, National Tropical Botanical Garden.

External links