ByKen Ige, Star-Bulletin
Ken Welter of Kula Mana Nursery admires a new
species of banyan. Banyans are members
of the fig, or ficus family.
GREENERY isn't necessarily green. The nonflowering foliage used in gardens for hedges and borders and as shade trees or in flower arrangements, can be variegated with white or a rainbow of colors. According to Ken Welter of Kula Mana Nursery near Kaneohe, these plants are enjoying a new popularity. Foliage finds
new followingMost of them have been around for a long time, including croton and coleus, but there are also some relatively new ones. The most important thing to remember about variegated plants, Welter said, is that the more white there is in the leaf, the more light the plants need. In low light, the leaves will revert back to solid green.
You wouldn't want a whole garden of multi-colored greenery but these plants make a good accent and they also do well indoors. A favorite is the banyan "Jamie K," hybridized at Hiromi's Nursery in Waimanalo. If left to its own instincts, it would turn into a huge tree, but very few people want a tree the size of a two-bedroom house. By growing one in a pot, you can control its size.
The "Jamie K" has dark green leaves splashed with an ivory white, and you can find it in more doctors' offices than 5-year-old copies of Arizona Highways. The plant requires little care, as long as it has good light (electric or natural), frequent feedings of a fertilizer high in nitrogen and enough water to keep the soil moist but not wet. If the leaves begin to turn yellow, the plant isn't getting enough light, and if they all fall off, you are giving the plant too much water. They'll grow a new set, though.
If you have a potted banyan indoors where it's happy, rearrange the furniture before you move the tree. Banyans are very conservative and do not take well to change. They also like to be potbound, which controls the growth. Welter says it takes about three years for a potted banyan to grow to 6 feet. Growth can also be controlled by pruning , which will make the plant more compact. "Thrips don't bother the variegated banyan as much as the ones with dark green leaves," he added. "They go for the chlorophyll, and there's less chlorophyll when the leaves are partly white."
Banyans are members of the fig or ficus family, and they're tough. After all, they made the first fashion statement as the legendary garments of Adam and Eve, and they've been around ever since. Not all are huge -- the creeping fig is modest, but tenacious. It clings.
Do not idly look at a wall and say "Creeping fig would look nice there, wouldn't it?" and promptly plant some. Think it through. It clings by means of a rubbery substance given off by the roots, a kind of Elmer's Glue with an attitude. Once established, it is very difficult to remove. But it softens the look of tile or stone walls and it is a vigorous grower. Its small oval leaves grow in rows, and are usually a dark green, but Welter has one with leaves edged in white. It also makes a good ground cover.
For a look at the variegated schefflera or octopus tree, see the landscaping of Restaurant Row where they appear to be thriving. When grown indoors, the plant needs bright light, a rich potting mix and occasional fertilizing. As a houseplant, it tends to get leggy, and needs to be severely cut back to hold its shape. It should be misted regularly to discourage mites. Because the variegated variety needs bright light to maintain its two colors, it does better outdoors. Choose the standard green variety as a houseplant.
For hanging baskets outdoors or as a houseplant, Welter recommends a new variety of Scindapsus pictus, related to philodendron, but with silver-dotted leaves. "It has thicker leaves, and is hardier. You can train it up a stake in a pot, or use it in hanging baskets," he said. The plant requires good drainage and full light but not direct sun. As a potted plant, it needs to climb up a stake so it thinks its on a tree-philodendron means tree-loving, and aren't we all?
Pictus should be grown out of direct sunlight, and needs warm, humid weather. If you want to keep the plant small, allow it to become potbound, otherwise repot when it seems crowded. Welter recommends it as an excellent houseplant.
Maranta, or prayer plant naturally is variegated, and is given its common name because its leaves fold upward at night.
It, too, is more often used as a houseplant than in the garden because it won't take direct sunlight and needs lots of water. Calathea, a relative, has ornamental leaves marked in green, white and pink, and like the maranta it begins to leaf close to the ground. It grows best in shade and requires excellent drainage. As a potted plant, both need frequent repotting and should not be allowed to get rootbound.
A new variegated peperomia is Ginny. Its leaves, which are variegated greens, are edged in pink. Welter says it is very easy to grow if you're patient. It is very slow, which makes it a natural for dish gardens and terrariums. It grows in partial shade, in light well-drained soil. The only way to kill one is to overwater. Let the soil surface dry out between waterings.
Welter's nursery sells to commercial outlets, and his plants are available at most large garden shops.
One of the guest speakers at the Lyon Arboretum Association's annual meeting last Saturday was Nathan P. Yuen, project manager of the Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development at the University of Hawaii.
You transfer technology by patenting it in the first place and then finding somebody to pay you for using it. This is a solid Fortune 500 practice and stands to make nice piece of change for the university.
Yuen explained that plants can be patented, and the highly promising new anthurium, "Tropic Fire" has been licensed to Twyford International for tissue propagation and sale.
A patented plant, like the mosquito repelling Citrosa, cannot legally be propagated without a license from the owner of the patent. This, Yuen, admits, is difficult to enforce among backyard growers. It could be monitored by the same SWAT team that tracks down people who tear the tags off mattresses.
One of Yuen's points was that the people most fondly regarded by his office are not the intent gardeners who buy a plant and then nourish it through viruses and droughts. "We like the apartment dwellers," he said. They're the ones who buy plants, leave them to languish on a lanai and when the plants inevitably die, they go right out and buy more. That's where the traffic is.
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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