By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
State land Director Mike Wilson enjoys the native
Hawaiian garden planted at the Kalanimoku Building.
During the 30 minutes that Betsy Gagne was pointing out the wonders of her native Hawaiian garden planted in the middle of the municipal complex in downtown Honolulu, at least 50 people walked by on their way someplace else. Nobody stopped to smell the gardenias. Gone Native
A garden in the midst of
urban Honolulu is a haven for
indigenous plantsThis is a concern not only to Gagne, but to the Hawaii Natural Area Reserves System that employs her and that has turned part of its office space into a museum-class gallery of native plants and birds. It is located in the Kalanimoku Building on Punchbowl and Beretania streets. The commission is part of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife which is part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources which is part of the state government. We're only going to go through that once, but it is in the office where camping and fishing permits are issued.
Anyway, a year ago, the commission opened the gallery, which is beautifully installed and equipped for visits, but hardly anyone knows it's there. The displays rotate, there is a room with video equipment to show nature programs, there are intelligent and well-trained volunteers, but no visitors. It is well worth seeing, and a good place to take out-of-state friends and older children. There's even parking in the lot on Beretania street near the building.
The current exhibit, "The Forest Jewels of Hawaii," is a collection of excellent photographs of native forest birds by Jim Denny, Jack Jeffrey and Eric Nishibayashi. Prints of the photographs, which would make an interesting Christmas gift to a bird-lover, can be ordered.
Gagne's contribution is the new garden of coastal plants -- those are what grow best in downtown Honolulu, although with the automobile fumes and the heavy shade of introduced trees, it is remarkable that anything grows. Gagne, with little hope, is negotiating with the state to remove a false wiliwili tree that looms over the garden. The tree is native to Malaysia and Gagne would like to trade it in on the real thing, a native wiliwili. That tree has large pea-shaped blossoms of red, salmon, orange, peach, chartreuse and, rarely, white.
The garden idea was raised three years ago, but the state works slowly, Gagne said. "A sprinkler system was in place, but it never worked and it still doesn't. I bought a hose and we schlep it out from the Xerox room every time we need to water."
The plants were just getting established when "The Taste of Honolulu" was held on the adjoining lawn and a chef dumped barbecue ashes onto the plants. "We think some of them are coming back, though," she added.
"Native plants," Gagne explained "are plants that got here by themselves, dropped by birds or floated over the ocean. The point is, nobody brought them here." There are endemic and indigenous natives. Koa is endemic, meaning that it is native to no other place but Hawaii; beach naupaka is indiginous because it is also native to other Pacific islands and to parts of tropical Asia.
The next closest to native plants are those brought here from the South Pacific by the first settlers, and include bananas, taro, sweet potatoes and sugar cane.
"After that, came the exotic plants," she said. "I don't like that name because it makes the plants sound like something special. Exotic, when applied to horticulture, simply means a non-native, introduced plant. And too many of them have escaped cultivation and have gone wild. Now we spend a large portion of our time trying to kill them off, plants like Australian tree fern and strawberry guava. Then you see people actually landscaping with these noxious weeds."
One of the most successful plants in Gagne's garden is pohinahina. A low shrub that still grows wild at Kaena Point, it has silvery leaves with a scent somewhat like sage. Its blue-violet flowers grow in clusters at the tips of the branches. Pohinahina makes a good ground cover because it roots itself at the plant nodes and is simple to propagate from tip cuttings.
"At Kaena Point, pohinahina is growing in patches with the golden flowered prostrate ilima, and the blue and gold together look beautiful," Gagne said. "We're trying for the same effect here. It makes a gorgeous ground cover."
Once they mature, they need very little water or fertilizer. Most native plants are sensitive to fertilizers, and balanced plant foods should be used at half the recommended strength. Over-watering, over-fertilizing and over-pruning are the worst threats to backyard cultivation.
A hibiscus brackenridgei planted by Gov. Ben Cayetano for the opening of the garden has a different set of problems. Rose beetles are making lace of the leaves. Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirano's gardenia brighamii is doing somewhat better, although it has been in the ground only since Arbor Day last month.
Gagne has a theory about coastal plants that are plagued by insects once moved off the beach. "It could be that the salt spray covers the leaves and acts like an insecticide," she said, but wait for more research before spraying your plants with salt water.
Mao, the native Hawaiian cotton, grows under a sprawling tree. It once grew on dry coastal areas of all of the islands except Hawaii, but is now classified as vulnerable to extinction. It produces an inferior quality of cotton bolls, but is commercially important because of its resistance to insect pests. Hybridized with cultivated mainland varieties, mao produces superior plants. Gagne has a few mao bushes in the garden, but they aren't particularly attractive in landscaping.
A better choice is akia, which is gaining acceptance as an ornamental shrub. There are several different species, one for windy coastal areas, another for dry ridges and another for clay soil. They are sold in many garden shops, but be sure you find the right one for your garden. Akia's attractive foliage grows in an unusual geometric pattern and produces small, inedible red fruit.
These and other native Hawaiian plants are important to our heritage, and they are disappearing because of urban development and agricultural needs. Most are attractive and very easy to grow, but like Gagne's garden and the little museum of the Hawaii Natural Areas Reserves System, nobody knows about them. Visit the Kalanimoku building and learn about both.
Last week's column about Hui Hana Hawaii, the Lyon Arboretum group that meets each week to work on crafts that are sold to support the arboretum, named the wrong founder. Hui Hana Hawaii was founded by Laura Miyoshi. Myrtle Endo organized the group that makes the herb wreaths.
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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