By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
"Butterfly orchids" are great house plants
with beautiful flowers.
THE last time, which was the first time, that Lyon Arboretum offered "Rose of Siam" torch ginger at its plant sale, the collection was gone in the first half-hour. At their Spring Plant and Craft Sale being held a week from tomorrow, Feb. 28, at Blaisdell Center, the arboretum staff promises another supply. Shop and learn
at arboretum saleGo early for a wide selection of
plant offerings and crafts, and take
advantage of the vendors' wisdomThis lovely red and green ginger was collected in Thailand. The leaf stalks grow to about 8 feet. The flowering stalks, which rise directly out of the ground and independent of the leaf stalks, are about 2 feet high, and the flower heads are 3 inches in diameter.
"Rose of Siam" grows best in well-watered, well-drained soil, and its foliage should be protected from hot drying winds. It will bloom well in full sun or partial shade. It has a fairly rapid growth rate and can be propagated by root division.
This is the time of year for the prime blooms of both Phalaenopsis and honohono orchids, and several orchid nurseries plan to have a variety on sale. Phalaenopsis orchids are an ideal houseplant while honohono has never been properly housebroken. Outdoors, honohono orchids grow on coconut husks or hanging lattices where their joined stems will grow to 4 feet or more.
Phalaenopsis, often called "butterfly orchids," are a local favorite because of their long-lasting beautiful blossoms. While there are only 50 species of this orchid, there are many thousands of hybrids. The flowers open one after the other, and remain on the plant for as long as several months.
These orchids should be potted so that the root mass is confined. Too large a pot is likely to harm healthy and well-branched root development which should penetrate almost all of the planting medium. If the medium-tree fern bark, perlite or other loose material, is not penetrated thoroughly by the roots, too much moisture will be trapped in the pot and the plant may die.
The general health of a Phalaenopsis can be judged by its leaf color, which should be grass green. A bottle green indicates that the plant is not getting enough light, a pale to yellow green means it has too much light. Too little light will make the plant prone to parasites and cut flower production, while too much light scorches the leaves.
A healthy plant should flower twice a year, and should be watered once a week. Plants in small pots require more frequent watering. At the end of the flowering period, remove yellow or dead leaves, but do not remove flower stalks because new blooms appear on old stalks year after year.
Alvin Tsuruda, an anthurium grower, will offer a selection of the University of Hawaii hybrid commonly called "Tinkerbell" or "Purple Passion."
"Tinkerbell" was released several years ago to growers on the Big Island, where she was not a barn-burner, and therefore wasn't propagated to any extent.
The Big Island anthurium business is mainly in cut flowers, and that's not "Tinkerbell's" strength, Tsuruda said. She's a gem of a potted plant, miniature and compact like Peter Pan's pal, growing to about 18 inches. Her purple flowers are more tulip-shaped than the heart shape of the conventional anthurium blossom.
"The plant flowers continually," Tsuruda said. "Every leaf has a flower, and the female flowers are sweet scented in the morning when they open, like a honohono orchid." The plants, which clump, should be grown in partial shade with good drainage and a minimum of wind. "Tinkerbell" is blight tolerant, which means that while it won't entirely resist anthurium blight, the blight won't kill the plant.
The arboretum will have an assortment of native Hawaiian plants, including red and yellow ohia lehua, and a plumbago with tiny white flowers that makes a drought tolerant ground cover. Frank Sekiya will have what he calls "the miracle ground cover," Golden Glory, in pots. As he describes it, the plant with its bright yellow flowers is a kind of living Astroturf. It needs no mowing, very little fertilizer, grows right over existing weeds and you can walk on it.
The plant sale will also include bromeliads, ti, cactus and succulents, heliconia, fruit trees, palms, water plants, hibiscus and Hawaiian taro cultivars.
And there's the craft sale -- jams, jellies, cloisonne pieces, oshibana cards, lei needles and a limited quantity of herbal wreaths and garlic baskets. "Garlic basket?" I hear you say. If you haven't got one, and hardly anybody does, you need one.
Garlic shouldn't be refrigerated because the humidity does all the wrong things to it. It changes the flavor and causes the cloves to sprout. The women of Hui Hana Hawaii, the volunteer group that creates most of these crafts, recommends storing dry garlic in their handmade baskets.
If your garlic consumption is limited, these woven wicker baskets make a perfect home for a small potted plant. The women have also made a gorgeous collection of small herbal wreaths and haku lei using plant material from the arboretum and their own gardens. Come early, because these go fast.
The sale is a learning experience for any gardener. The vendors like to talk about their plants. They want whoever buys them to take care of them, and they'll tell you how if you ask.
Plants, more
What: Lyon Arboretum Spring Plant Sale
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
Send queries along with name and phone number to:
Evergreen by Lois Taylor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com.
Please be sure to include a phone number.
Evergreen by Lois Taylor is a regular Friday feature of the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin. © 1996 All rights reserved.
