Tucked away at the top of Tantalus, the garden of Charles "Chico" and Allison Holland offers more than a panoramic view of the Honolulu skyline and the ocean beyond.

It’s a haven of color.

Allison Holland, an artist, floral notecard designer and interior decorator, has painted every room in the home a different hue, with much of the space accented with her own artwork, and filled the garden with flowers and plants of every shade.

"I just put everything I loved out there," she said. "I like a mixture and lots of flowers, lots of color."

The selection includes vireya rhododendrons, hibiscus, nasturtiums, orchids grafted to tree trunks, bromeliads of every kind, roses, lilies, ferns and anthuriums. Many have been the subject of her hand-painted cards at one time or another. (The roses don’t do very well in Hawaii, she says, but, "I keep trying. I don’t give up.")

Steppingstones lead visitors down the seven levels of a zigzagging pathway framed by bamboo handrails that Chico Holland built himself. Tall bamboo forms a drapery of privacy between the home and its neighbors.

On the way down you’ll pass a small table and chairs ideal for enjoying breakfast in the garden, a sculpture of a Beatrix Potter-like rabbit, a round pond with floating water lilies, an array of banana trees, yellow and pink angel’s trumpets, and traveler’s palms.

A small, wooden bridge, hand-painted by the resident artist, was inspired by a recent trip to Bhutan.

Allison Holland, 79, recalls falling in love with the lush and tropical setting of upper Tantalus the first time the couple took the winding drive up to Round Top.

"It was misty and raining, and the fragrance of the ginger wafted into the car window," she said. "And I said, ‘We have to live up here.’"

The Hollands at first owned two lots at the top of Tantalus, which they purchased in 1963. The first home they lived in belonged to the owner of McWayne Marine Supply at Kewalo Basin. The lot next door comprised a huge slope covered in trees. They had a bulldozer carve in the terraces, now retained by walls, and little by little, they transformed it into the oasis it is now.

Allison Holland’s vision was to create movement with undulating rows of agapanthus and lilies that ripple across the terraces.

"She’s got the vision," said her husband, 81, a retired bank executive. "I got my blinders on but I got my gloves."

Eventually they moved into a custom-designed, two-story home on the second lot in 2004. The home has plenty of windows, skylights and a lanai overlooking the garden — and a rain forest-themed bathroom that looks out upon a waterfall.

Fragrant star jasmine run along the veranda of the lower lanai.

From the second-floor lanai, the Hono­lulu skyline is framed by two large mahogany trees. Near the stairway a brunfelsia — a member of the nightshade family also known as kiss-me-quick — offers flowers that turn from deep violet to lavender, then white before dropping off.

A grassy platform out front, outfitted with two chaise lounges, provides the perfect place to relax and take in the sunset and city lights.

While it’s difficult — and dangerous — gardening on a slope, the Hollands both work at it. Aside from hiring someone to mow the lawn, they planted everything and maintain their garden themselves.

With the yard receiving more than 100 inches of rain a year on average, most plants do well without much watering. The rainwater is stored in a tank.

"I love it," Allison Holland said. "Everything grows, it’s quiet, peaceful and green — and there’s the view."

Their daughters have posed for wedding photos in the garden, which blooms best in spring, and their grandchildren run along the pathways, exploring, when they visit.

Allison Holland’s art studio looks out upon the garden, too, but she said she likes to be out in the greenery to find artistic inspiration and surprises, like the unexpected bloom growing from one of the traveler’s palms.

"When something happens that you weren’t prepared for, it’s wonderful," she said.

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