I had been wanting to go Upcountry to see these lovely purple trees in person. As of this posting, I still haven’t. Life on paradise can be so busy sometimes.  Thankfully, Darren was able to do it. When I saw his photos on his Facebook Page I asked his permission to re-post them here on A Maui Blog. All photos are credited to Darren McDaniel. He took a lot of beautiful shots! Hopefully I can go Upcountry before the end of Jacaranda season. In the meantime, sharing Darren’s post and photos for us to enjoy:

The Maui Darren’s First Post:

Fortunate to spend some time over the weekend on the north shore of Maui and upcountry; taking full advantage of Jacaranda season and the amazing blooms along the upper Kula Highway and into Ulupalukua. It is speculated that the trees likely originated from Portugese Ranchers working upcountry during the mid 1900’s, as the trees originated in Brazil, however the state did proactively plant trees along the upcountry highway’s in the later 1950’s. Certainly worth a day trip upcountry if you’re fortunate to be here during the season!

Darren’s Follow-up Post – The Back Story – Love This!

1.) Darren goes upcountry and takes picture
2.) Couple sees Darren and pulls over, takes pictures, cordial ‘hello’s’ ensue.
3.) Waves occur at second crossing at Winery
4.) Darren searches the hashtag ‪#‎D810‬ several days later…and surprisingly comes across a great picture of upcountry Maui:https://instagram.com/p/1vfyivQV3M/?taken-by=hmatsudaphoto
5.) Darren likes photo and of course comments on it
6.) Photo turns out to be from Hubert, of the couple that pulled over and took pictures!
7.) Darren and Hubert now hooking up in a few weeks when he returns from Kauai to shoot the blooming lavender farm.