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Friday, July 7, 2000
File photo
Let peppers trail alongside your flowers.
Using herbs, fruits and vegetables as decorative plants is a growing trend in America's gardens, according to the National Garden Bureau.
Since the time of the Romans, and perhaps earlier, food and flowers have been cultivated separately by most cultures. Only the Egyptians seem to have combined the two, according to the bureau.
But with residential lots shrinking and plant breeders focusing on the ornamental features of vegetables, the two are beginning to come together across the United States.
The growing interest in quality, fresh produce also has played a role in the trend. The home gardener has come to appreciate the beauty of a purple bean pod, or the creamy yellow bloom of the okra plant. The demand for fresh herbs, long a part of formal European gardens, also is rising, making them a natural choice in ornamental flower beds.
Food plants can serve all the same landscaping functions as traditional ornamentals. They come in all sizes and colors and can provide everything from groundcover to shade. So try planting peppers alongside those rose bushes; or hanging tomatoes or strawberries in baskets next to the impatiens.
Hosted by Cynthia Yip Nishimra, "Journal II" profiles some of the local Okinawan Americans who have made a difference in Hawaii. Among those featured are entertainment impresario Roy Tokujo, who is behind the Paradise Cove luau, "Magic of Polynesia" and the Maui production "Ualena;" Kevin Higa, owner and founder of Superb Sushi; Evelyn Miyashiro, whose family owns Cafe 100 in Hilo; former legislator Akira Sakima, who was instrumental in the delivery of much-needed food and livestock to Okinawa after World War II; and Valerie Aniya Schmidt, president-elect of the Young Okinawans of Hawaii.
The program will be rebroadcast 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.
With its mix of Afro-Cuban- and Latin-tinged hip-hop, salsa, ska, funk and jazz with a streetwise edge absent from studio-manufactured pop fusion, Carlos Santana has said he sees in the band the "future of music."
Ozomatli will perform here Aug. 4 at the Aloha Tower Marketplace Pier Bar. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. for the 21 and older crowd. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, at $13.50 general, at Radio Free Music Center, Tower Records, Tower Video Kapiolani, Hungry Ear Kailua, Tempo Music, Jelly's Puck's Alley and Pearl Kai, UH Campus Center and military outlets. Charge tickets at 526-4400.
Ozomatli's percussion instruments are imported from more than five countries, and the band often numbers 10 or more. The group delivers its lyrics - voicing history lessons and social concerns - in Spanish and English.
