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In The Garden
Friday, February 18, 2000
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
The Hibiscus Waimeae, or koki'o ke'oke'o, is among the more
popular native plant species and is available at nurseries,
garden shops and plant sales.
BRUCE Koebele was never a plant guy. He found animals far more fascinating. John Culliney liked plants, but he was really an animal guy, too. Both scientists moved from the mainland to Hawaii to study marine biology. But then they got to know some native Hawaiian plants, and they became serious plant lovers. Native plants find fans
The two have compiled their knowledge from more than 20 years of studying and growing native species into a book, "A Native Hawaiian Garden: How to Grow and Care for Island Plants." It is a practical and detailed guide to propagating and growing native plants in general. It also offers specific information for growing 63 native species, many of which are rare.
Aside from being a handy reference, it is a book with a mission, which is to ensure the survival of native Hawaiian plants.
BOOK SIGNING
Who: John Culliney & Bruce Koebele
"One of our chief reasons for writing this book is because Hawaii has become an alien world," the authors wrote. "Although our landscapes often appear richly diverse and lush with tropical vegetation, we are surrounded by plants from nearly everywhere else in the world except Hawaii."
For the most part, islanders have not taken good care of our native species, the authors said. We have favored newer and more showy alien plants, and forgotten about the native plants, many of which are beautiful and unusual looking.
"We hope with this book that more people will become interested in growing native plants. When more people become involved in growing the plants, then the plants will have a better chance of being around longer," said Culliney, a professor of biology at Hawaii Pacific University.
The authors aimed their book at a wide readership, from commercial operations to back-yard growers. "We believe our methods of raising Hawaiian plants can be used for large-scale landscaping or simply starting a garden in the back yard. These are methods we've tested over and over again and found to be successful," Culliney said.
The good news is native species have come into vogue in recent years and more plants are readily available from garden shops and plant sales. The authors urge gardeners to seek out plants from these sources and other gardeners first.
"People really should be very careful if they try to collect samples from the wild. They should be careful that they don't go in there and do damage," Koebele said. The book offers guidelines on how to collect samples and laws governing such practice.
CONTRARY to popular belief, native plants are not necessarily difficult to grow or take a long time to grow. "For example, people are reluctant to grow trees in their landscaping because they think trees take a long time to get big. But some trees only take a few years or less to get to a good size," Koebele said.
Koebele planted a bunch of 'ohe makai at Ka'ala Farms Inc., a nonprofit community development organization in Waianae where he works as native plants projects coordinator. It is a hardwood tree the Hawaiians used to fashion stilts, and the 10-inch seedlings grew to 7-foot trees in a year.
"I really like to see people use more native species in their landscaping and not worry about how long it would take for everything to reach full size," Koebele said. "They should plant a tree with the idea that their children, their grandchildren and generations after them will be able to enjoy the tree -- that the tree will be there forever."
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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