In The Garden
Friday, July 27, 2001
KEN SAKAMOTO / KSAKAMOTO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Nathan Wong, of Foster Garden, shows a dragon
made from tree branches.
Sometime in the late 1960s, noted landscape designer and author Lorraine Kuck borrowed a garden idea from New Mexico. In her travels there, she had seen how beautiful the gardens were at night with candle light flickering from luminaries lining garden paths and hanging along eaves of homes. Foster Garden tenders
a glittering evening
of family entertainmentKuck presented her idea to Paul Weissich, then director of Foster Botanical Garden, and the two brainstormed to create an evening of festivities to show off the garden's collection of majestic trees and rare plants.
Weissich came up with the poetic name Midsummer Night's Gleam. Kuck dreamed up plans for a moon altar, a wishing tree and tried to present bon dances as the entertainment. They wanted people to have fun, but they also worried about women in mu'umu'u catching fire from the candles. Buckets of water and towels were kept handy just in case. Happily, there were no mishaps.
Now, more than 30 years later -- without any mu'umu'u ever on fire -- Midsummer Night's Gleam is well established as a popular family outing in the largest of the city's gardens. This year, it will be the most festive ever, thanks to Nathan Wong, chairman for the night festival, says Heidi Bornhorst, director of Honolulu's five botanical gardens.
"When it started, it was really simple, just lighted candles in the pathways. The main thing was just to have people see the garden in the evening with the twinkling lights," says Wong, who otherwise is the coordinator for the city's Community Gardens.
The twinkling light from the candles alone creates a mesmerizing evening, Wong says. This year, he plans to set out 3,000 luminaries -- candles in paper sacks -- along the garden's pathways. Numerous luminary sculptures will be placed in the garden, and Christmas lights will be strung from some of the garden's designated Exceptional Trees.
"When you have that many lights, it really creates a magical atmosphere. That's what it's all about, a magical evening of lights -- with exceptional trees and fragrant flowers in the garden," Wong says.For those who wish for more than a romantic candlelit garden, Wong promises a rousing kickoff of international dances and an evening of chop-suey entertainment reflective of Hawaii's melting-pot culture. Here are some of the activities Wong has lined up for tomorrow:
>> Procession of Chinese lion dance, Middle Eastern belly dancers and Okinawan drum dancers beginning from the garden's side gate on Nuuanu Avenue. The dances will begin at 3:30 p.m., moving toward the garden's main entrance for the doors to open officially at 4:30 p.m. Lion dancers also will perform throughout the garden later.Foster Botanical Garden is the first and the largest of the city's botanical gardens. It was originally the home of Dr. William F. Hillebrand, a physician with a keen interest in botany. Originally from Prussia, he served as the first physician for the Hawaiian royalty and gathered an impressive collection of tropical plants on his property.>> A pot of candy suspended from the elephant earpot tree (named for its seed pods resembling elephant ears) for youngsters who are able to pull themselves up in a tree-trimming lift. The pot, which is a pail covered in gold foil and named "Pot of Gold," will be suspended five feet off the ground. Children who are able to reach that high in the lift will be allow to reach into the pail for a handful of candy.
Adults, for whom candy may not be enough of an incentive, also will be allowed into the lift for a close-up view of the elephant earpot tree, planted in the 1850s and designated as an Exceptional Tree.
>> Giant bubble demonstration. Using a special bubble solution and a hula hoop, a giant bubble is created to envelope a child in the middle. This activity was so in demand that it created a huge bottleneck in the garden last year.
>> A dragon constructed out of fallen branches and other garden findings by noted landscaper Leland Miyano and volunteers.
>> Children's crafts: Rubber stamping, painting dinosaur eggs (which really are egglike seed pods from palm trees), paper hat- and puppet-making.
>> Tanabata Wish Tree. Visitors are encouraged to write down their wishes on pieces of paper, which the staff will attach to a tree. Chinese fortune stick reading also will be available.
>> It may be a bit early, but there will be a haunted house.
>> Medieval knights and Mongolian warriors in full custom. The Mongolian warriors also will set up a leather tent and offer an interactive display to show the nomadic Mongolian lifestyle. The medieval knights will fire a cannon when the door opens at 4:30 p.m.
>> Hawaiian songs and hula by Halau na Kuku Olu Olu I Ka Hula.
>> A plant sale, which will include a new gardenia from Thailand. The flower is a single pinwheel, resembling a tiare, and turns from white to yellow.
>> A country store offering corn, cabbages, bananas and other fresh produce. Free samples of Laie Gold, a new and delicious papaya. The fruit also will be for sale.
>> Plate lunches by Simply Ono. Juices and soda also will be available for sale. Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic dinners.
The garden has 26 Exceptional Trees officially protected by an act passed by the state Legislature in 1975.
Place: Foster Botanical Garden, 50 N. Vineyard Blvd. Midsummer Night's Gleam
Time: 4:30 to 9 p.m. tomorrow. Procession of Chinese lion dance, belly dancers and Okinawan drum dancers begins 3:30 p.m. on Nuuanu Avenue; garden opens at 4:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Call: 522-7060 or 537-1708
Gardening Calendar
Suzanne Tswei's gardening column runs Saturdays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI, 96813
or email stswei@starbulletin.com
