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Air Tahiti Magazine 54
ixora / flame of the woods > avocado trees, coconut palms, voyager palms and other palm varieties along with red, yellow and green bamboo are the soul of this garden. each one has it's own history. such as an avocado tree that was grown from a seed that came all the way from israel. "my father gave me this seed because he thought the larger tahitian variety were less flavorful," olivier tells us. the tree grew and rapidly produced fruit. the beautiful black avocados were more elongated than their tahitian cousins but slowly, over the years they became larger, greener and eventually even lost their middle-eastern flavor! like a good tahitian, olivier collects certain flower species. the flowers of his mussaenda, have falsely withered looking petals in white, pale and vivid rose. his hibiscus have been the object of numerous exchanges with his passionate gardening friends. as for his bird of paradise collection, he is very proud to show off his hawaiian species that cannot be found elsewhere in tahiti and is extremely fragile. a landscaper by default, olivier was surprised by the amount of work needed to keep up this variety of plants. one constantly has to prune trees that might block the view of the lagoon and "the bamboo that races to see who can be the tallest." his two children have also grown up. the playhouse at the edge of the garden has been abandoned but the sweet memories of the taste of fresh lychees, freedom and adventure remain - as it should in such a garden. ochne / bird s eye bush
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