Kula Lavender Maui Ceramic Art Tile
— purple at four thousand feet, above the trade winds.
Not only on a wall.
“A working lavender farm at four thousand feet, on the leeward slope of Haleakalā. Roughly thirteen acres, around fifty-five thousand plants, kept in cool air the rest of Maui never sees. The bloom is heaviest in July and August, but nine of the varieties hold colour through the calendar. From the porch the view runs down across the central valley to the West Maui Mountains and the Pacific. Most people who find it stay longer than they meant to.
Kula Lavender Maui Ceramic Art Tile, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
Ali'i Kula Lavender sits on the leeward slope of Haleakalā, the dormant shield volcano whose summit rises to 10,023 feet and defines most of east Maui. The farm occupies about thirteen and a half acres at roughly 4,000 feet of elevation along Waipoli Road, in the upcountry district known as Kula. From the porch the land falls away across the central isthmus to the West Maui Mountains and the Pacific beyond. The site was planted to lavender beginning in 2001 by horticulturist Ali'i Chang, who had previously run a protea farm on the same slope; he died in 2011, and the family has continued the operation. The closest airport is Kahului, about twenty-five miles down the mountain.
Lavender is a Mediterranean plant. It wants dry heat and cool nights, neither of which the Hawaiian coast supplies. Kula's elevation does. Upcountry sits in the layer between the trade-wind inversion and the alpine zone, where afternoon temperatures rarely climb past the seventies Fahrenheit and the humidity drops once the clouds catch and shred against the volcano. Roughly fifteen of the lavender varieties grown here tolerate the conditions; nine of them hold colour through the year rather than waiting for a midsummer peak. The same elevation that makes the lavender possible also gives the porch its long view: the central valley below, the West Maui Mountains across the isthmus, and the Pacific opening past Lahaina to the north and Mā'alaea to the south.
The farm is open four days a week, Friday through Monday, from 10am to 4pm, with last entry at 3:45pm; general admission is $5, with discounted entry for kama'aina, seniors, and active military, and free entry for children twelve and under. The drive from Kahului Airport climbs about twenty-five miles into the upcountry along Highway 37 and then Waipoli Road; the final stretch is a single-lane switchback that asks for low gears and patience. Most visitors plan an hour for the gardens, the gift shop, and a cup of lavender tea on the porch. The slope is uneven; a light jacket helps once the inversion drops the afternoon temperature.