Puamana & Selector Lopaka's backyard Bali Hai

Awesome job! Is your banana tree (or any of the plants for that matter) still alive after all of our freezes so far this year?
Everything tropical in my yard here in Seattle is dead now.

Our banana tree looks very sad at the moment. We've been assured it will come back to life in the spring. I can't tell you the specific genus of the tree off the top of my head, but it's supposedly the most hearty. Everything else but the annuals is also supposed to survive our winter. Spring will reveal the truth. I can't wait.

I have a relative in Oklahoma that has a banana tree in his yard, he babied that
plant every winter by putting a green house around it, then taking it down in the summer. He has gotten to old to build the green house anymore, since the tree has
no protection from the freezes in the
winter now the Banana tree dies back. But for 2 summers it has come back all on its own. It hasn't made any Bananas in a couple of seasons though.

Absolutely beautiful! I can't imagine what your house must look like. I like the roof the way it is. The Harbor Hut in Morro Bay, CA has a thatch roof. Looks like thick stacks of reeds. The spiders seemed to like it too. Lotsa egg nests. Thanks for posting the pics.

I'll be right over! heehee, even if it snows... hmmm, warm mai tais?

yup, it snowed, hope you guys got some cool photos of the tikis with snow on em!
heehee

It did look cool around midnight last night, when it was still snowing, and really sticking to the tikis & bamboo. We were going to take some photos this morning, but alot of it had melted already. We're due for more snow on Saturday, so we'll try to get some photos then. Happy New Year !

Yes-please post photos of this masterpiece covered in snow!!! Although it is probably a bit sacrelig to have snow covering a tiki.
We may get more snow tonight, Sat, and Sun.

Happy New Tiki Year...

We got about 5" in our neighborhood today. It's supposed to be 20 degrees warmer tomorrow, and the rain has already started. So, this snow will be gone mighty soon. It certainly makes the dormant Backyard Bali Hai a bit more pleasing though.

The Moai with the snow moustache looks like one of the "Got Milk?" ads.
:D

I've got a tiki that looks like that too out on my porch... 4 inches on his head... and he's freezing his ass off... we had a high temp of 8 degrees F yesterday... Very peaceful pictures... nice.

Even with all that snow, I would enjoy a Mai Tai out there 8)

Okay Selector, can you give me a hint of where you live so that my stalking duties will be a bit easier. I live near Stan the Bamboo guy (if you know where he lives) in North Seattle.

Beautiful!!! Even in the depths of winter!

Matt

Man oh man, what a nice place. That would be a great carving studio.
Great carvings also.
As I'm goin' thru these pages , I'm just seeing too much good stuff, don't know if I can handle it.
Envious

growing up here in Kentucky my mom always had a bananna tree outside, but we always dug up the new sprouts at the end of summer and brought them in. The big tree always died, but the little ones grew inside all winter (in some light) and did fine the next year. I bought a little tree late in summer and brought it in, it's growing pretty quick in my sunroom.

As RevBambooBen said "A little pool acid goes a long way"..Here is an Example of coloration for a rooftop made from the same metal as yours.
Don't get me wrong, your whole back yard has Me and Many others drooling as it is but if you were going to change the color or look of the roof, there are ways besides thatch. This roof was painted and then chemically Aged.
thanks for getting us all drooled up,
Benzart

Well Puamana,
Regarding your question about raising the property value? A most definite, YYYYEEEESSSSSSS!!!!
This will definitely go under on the,“Tiki Central's Masterpiece” archives.
I now have to get to my bar and start workin (no, not drinkin) on it some more, thanks to your inspiration.
Enjoy it !!

Well I just found this through a link in another thread and...OOH MY GOD! Your tiki hut is absolutely beautiful. The construction is awesome, the carvings are awesome, the lights are awesome, the plants are awesome...ah, hell, YOU'RE awesome!
Thanks for posting these pics, and special thanks to the TC member who posted the link to this thread.
I can't wait to see pics from this spring!
I'll bet your mai tais taste even better under that tiki hut!

"Hey! Careful, man! There's a beverage!" - The Dude

[ Edited by: Polynesiac on 2004-03-03 09:41 ]

I've had that #8 picture as my Desktop background since I been here I think. That is just too great .I'll keep lookin at it every day and maybe I'll get my yard done some day

Mahalo for the most recent responses y'all. Thanks for the roof treatment tips too. We also can't wait for spring back there. Things are stirring though. Bulbs are beginning to pop up, and our landscaper friends will be coming over soon for a post-winter assessment of the plant life. It's hard to tell what has survived. A mega-mulching will occur soon as well. We'll post more photos when the time is right.

Outta sight!! I am totally envious! :P

Wow, beautiful -- and right here in Seattle!

how did i miss this thread for almost 9 months?? omgosh your yard is incredible! it absolutely reminds me of the bali hai grounds in san diego..

the tikis were carved by Fast Eddie, right?

did all your plants survive the winter? did you do anything special for the banana plant?

awesome..

Just came across yer pics and...they brought a tear to my eye. Can I spend the night at yer house, I'll sleep in the backyard.

So how does it look 1 yr later?
:)

Here's a few shots of one year later in the Backyard Bali Hai, which includes the addition of a Witco "Big Joe" that we found last year at an antique mall north of Seattle. He was pretty weathered already, so we slapped a coat of sealer on him and put him outside next to some recently transplanted black bamboo.

Boy I'm SO Envious. That back yard is Really coming along nicely. The Winter didn't seem to have hurt it much. Everythinh is growing well and Just looks SO Great. The house looks greatbut for the roof, but that will come in time the added carvings are killer. In ten years it will all look weathered in and real down home comfy. I love it. Love the building. In my back yard, that would be MY Work Shed, "Benzarts Wood Shed" the sign would say "Get cher carving lessons here any nite of the week but Sundays. That day belongs to me and Sherry"
I'd have signs up all over the place like "Lessons for rum" or "wednesday jam sessions. Bring yer axa and favorite drink."
and then " we have to invite the neighbors so they won't mind us partying all night long, All night Long" Awww, but it's Not in my back yard, poooo

Absolutely amazing... I'm speechless...

I am not worthy...

TTK

THanks for the bump up and the new pictures - your backyard is beautiful - and the new tiki fits right in. Not a bad find!!!
I don't remeber seeing that REALLY BIG tiki before (the one standing all by itself kinda surrounded by jungle). It looked cool as the only thing in your backyard (after I looked back) and now it looks EVEN BETTER surrounded by all that foliage!
A little tiki oasis in Seattle...

Thanks for sharing!

"Hey, at least I'm housebroken."

[ Edited by: Polynesiac on 2004-10-27 21:00 ]

On 2003-10-09 18:05, Humuhumu wrote:
I'm afraid that thatch wouldn't work well
here in Seattle -- it would never get a
chance to dry out, and would probably get
moldy & rotten.
...
I wonder how expensive synthetic thatch
products are?

I've been considering a "roof" over an in-
door bar (but may still go with an outdoor
bar) after I move somewhere warm and have
been thinking of trying to find some scrap
corrugated steel (quonset hut material) to
use to build the "roof"/roof. I think that
the look would "fit in" okay and it would
be fireproof if used inside and sound GREAT
outside in the rain.

BTW, this is my first post here. Been a bit
of a tiki nut for a LONG time but am just
starting to build my "collection" of tiki-
themed items. I have a # of hawaiian print
shirts, a set of 4 tiki coffee mugs (wood-
en), 2 small table torches, some plastic
servingware with tropical themes, a couple
of decor items that are sort of heavy ped-
estals that you could use on a buffet that
are a foot or so tall each and LOTS of ex-
otica music on CD (including the Ultra
Lounge series). Oh, and some palm tree-
themed mats and towels and wallpaper accents
as well, plus a couple of "tropical fish"
prints for art. I'll probably obtain some
tiki mugs soon as well. I also have a bam-
boo shelf to display the mugs on.

Aloha y'all,
Now that summer has past, here are some shots of Backyard Bali Hai in its 3rd year of existence. The first 3 shots show the plant growth over the past three years, and the rest are from this year.

Summer 2003

Summer 2004

Summer 2005

Tiki by Seamus

Aloha sign by Poly Pop. Wall mounted fountain by Ken Pleasant. Painted tiki face by Dawn Frasier.

Seamus and Ken's tikis chilling out.

[ Edited by: Selector Lopaka 2005-11-13 10:15 ]

woaw, that's amazing...you really did an excellent job, and lots of really cool contributions of tiki centralites.
Thanks for the tour

Heaven on earth.

Selector, Thanks for Updating the pictures. I am even MORE Envious now. The yard has matured beautifully.
HappyHappyHappy.

As a tikiphile who has been landscaping in Florida for 20+ years, this is an outstanding example of what can be done to bring the Tiki experience to the outside spaces. Hats off to you--it is absolutely stunning, unique and totally Tiki! Thanks for sharing the photos with all of us.

Puamana & Selector Lopaka,
You need to stsrt a thread in "Home Tiki Bars"