Hawaii Backyard Conservation Booklet

An excellent reference for every homeowner, Hawaii Backyard Conservation is FREE and available for download here. It's chockful of fabulous ideas and suggestions for low impact, environmentally conscious, sustainable gardening.

Sponsored by City and County of Honolulu
Department of Environmental Services Storm Water Quality Branch, Hawaii State Department of Transportation Highways Division, Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources
Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management.

Read it and be inspired!

Hawaiian Mint, Pokeberry, Raspberry

Are you a plant sale addict? Are you so afflicted that you'd buy plants instead of some yummy local-style grinds? If you’re like me, tables loaded up with transplants means emergency surgery on the wallet. This past weekend I succumbed to some hard-to-find natives at Volcano Art Center’s Forest Education Festival. Of course, it was a fundraiser for the center so I was just being supportive, right? Never mind that in seconds I ended up with only loose change in my purse and I had to go home for lunch instead heading for the food booths….

Mintless Mint, Stenogyne sp.

Without grazing animals to predate on them, many endemic Hawaiian plants put less energy into creating defenses such as thorns or unpleasant tastes. Thus Hawaiian mints, such as this Stenogyne, don’t have a minty taste or smell. However, as you can see in the photo, they do have the square stems characteristic of the mint family. This trailing mint prefers filtered light and moist areas, so I’m planting it under some ‘ohi’a trees in the backyard. The plant I bought has one long vine so I can get a few cuttings, too - I’m getting more than one plant for my money. Hooray!

Hawaiian Pokeberrry, Phytolacca sandwicensis

Who says native plants aren’t colorful? The first time you see Hawaiian Pokeberry, or Popolo ku mai, it will stop you in your tracks. I first saw these attractive, rose pink blooms and deep purple berries on a hike through Kipuka Puaulu, a mesic forest in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I love the deep purple venation on the leaves, too. It likes full sun it needs moist soil, so I’m planting it in a sunnier, open area farther from the house. I’ve been told it reseeds itself, so I’m looking forward to having a nice stand of pokeberry someday.

Hawaiian Raspberry, Rubus hawaiensis

Look, ma, no ow-ees. The endemic raspberry, known as ‘akala in Hawaiian, certainly has prickles, though it isn’t as nasty as the introduced varieties. The flower is dark pink and the fruit is usually large and tart, ranging from deep red to bright yellow. Hawaiian raspberry grows only at high elevations, usually in mesic and wet forests, and in woodlands, so maybe I'll have a chance at coaxing this one to take root here in Volcano Village at 4,000 feet. The kalij pheasants will probably find it unpleasant to peck at it despite its wimpy prickles, but looks like some chewing insects have already nibbled at the leaves; I’ll have to keep an eye on this transplant under the ‘ohi’a trees, too.

Pa'ina and Pa'iniu

As usual, Volcano Village was abuzz with its July 4th celebration this past weekend at Cooper Center. Of course, there were booths with post-parade onolicious grinds for brunch -- malasadas, Thai curry, and pulled pork at 10 am. But first, quite naturally, I was sucked into the Lehua Lena Nursery booth selling an outstanding selection of native Hawaiian plants, such as native mint-less mint (Lamiaceae), olomea (Perrottetia sandwicensis), and kukaenene (Coprosma ernodeoides).

I was very excited to get one of my favorite natives, pa'iniu (Astelia) to try out in my yard. I’ve been in love with it ever since I saw it in bloom on a hike around Kilauea Iki. Its luminous silvery leaves and unusual flower spikes are quite striking among the deep green of the native forest.

I was also relieved to find a small seedling of ko'oko'olau (Bidens sp.). I needed one badly, right away, before my ku'u ipo returns from an out-of-town trip, since I accidently weedwhacked to a premature death the one that was in his yard : “Zeeeep! Uh oh, oh sugars.” That, and perhaps sharing some of my arugula, might help make amends. I hope.

Hawaiian Heritage Landscaping

If you’re looking for ideas on how to use native plants in landscaping around your home, pay a visit to the nonprofit Manoa Heritage Center on O'ahu. The Cooke family has established a native Hawaiian garden that wraps around their estate in Manoa Valley and mimics natural settings. That is, native trees are underplanted with shade-loving native shrubs and herbs, just as they occur in the wild, which results in a more pleasing aesthetic.

The garden features some common, easy-to-grow natives from a wide range of vegetation zones from makai to mauka, as well as some rare and endangered species. Here are some of the native plants you’ll see at Manoa Heritage Center.

Hau kuahiwi, (Hibiscadelphus distans) an endangered plant. This O'ahu variety has smaller blooms than the one I've seen on Hawai'i Island...

'Awikiwiki (Canavalia galeata) climbs the side of the reconstructed heiau, adapted to the hot, dry conditions.

Munroidendron, ( Munroidendron racemosum) an extremely rare and endangered plant, is doing well with ample water. Here are the unusual seed pods.

There is also a garden of “canoe plants” important in Hawaiian culture, for example kalo (taro), 'uala (sweet potato), 'ohi'a 'ai (mountain apple). The garden includes native pili grass (Heteropogon contours) shown below, which was used for thatching homes.

The stately Tudor-style home called Kuali'i was built from bluestone lava quarried on site in 1911. It is adjacent to a recently restored agricultural heiau, Kukao'o, most likely dedicated to the Hawaiian god Lono. This heiau was one of many that were in Manoa Valley in ancient times. The heiau was reconstructed from the original stones under the guidance of historic preservationist expert Nathan Napoka and the crew of Billy Fields, specialist in the pa pohaku masonry of ancient Hawai'i. To read more about this heiau, click here.

Manoa Valley once cradled acres of taro fields that fed the population of a sizeable ahapua’a that stretched all the way to Waikiki. Before the arrival of agriculture, native plants flourished in the valley; today, Manoa is an upscale suburban neighborhood where introduced species make up the verdant lawns and precisely pruned hedges.

The Cookes have created a culturally rich, memorable experience for Hawai'i’s keiki who might not otherwise have the chance to see and experience native fauna in their urban environment. MHC is an excellent location to begin a discussion about the use of pohaku (stone) in building and architecture in Hawai'i - how it all fits together historically, literally and figuratively. It’s a unique educational opportunity for Hawaii school children to experience the flow of historical events and the impacts of change on the landscape. Students can feel what the landscape might have looked like before the arrival of humans and its appearance during pre-contact Hawai'i; they can also compare the changes in the ways of life for ensuing generations.

If you visit, please be aware that this is private residence of the Cooke family. The interior is closed to the public, but someday will be open to the public as a museum. For information and reservations, call (808) 988-1287 or email manoaheritagecenter@hawaiiantel.net. For website, click here.

Native Butterfly Garden: Kipuka Puaulu

To have a true native Hawaiian butterfly garden, you'd have to plant a Hawaiian forest, or live near one. There are only two native butterflies, the Kamehameha Butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) and the Koa Butterfly (Udara blackburni). Both of these butterflies, adults and their larvae, feed on native plant species. At lower elevations especially, predators, parasites, and human activities impacting habitats have contributed to diminishing native Hawaiian butterfly populations, or even eliminating them.

Kipuka Puaulu is one of the few places easily accessible to the public where you still stand a chance at seeing living native butterflies. At Kipuka Puaulu, also known as Bird Park in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, you'll find native plants typical of the mesic forest growing in old, deep ash soil on Mauna Loa: koa, manele, 'ohi'a lehua, papala kepau, palapalai and other ferns, 'ala 'ala wai nui, and of course, mamaki. These natives, with the exceptions of perhaps koa and manele, are fairly easy to grow in your backyard with adequate water, rich soil with good drainage, and half the amount of fertilizer you normally use with non-natives. Although at Kipuka Puaulu was grazed by cattle, pigs and goats into the 1950s, today it is an example of successful resource management, a healthy forest that has been protected and replanted.

VIDEO: A walk through Kipuka Puaulu and a reading of excerpts from Pulelehua and Mamaki, at the mamaki grove under the koa trees, with yours truly.



Pulelehua and Mamaki is featured in this week's Big Island Weekly. To read the article, click here.

In the Garden, All A-Twitter

I'm feeling virtuous today, having freed this native koki'o 'ula (Hibiscus saintjohnianus) from its weedy prison in my backyard. While the buzzing of the weedwhacker lulled me into something between zen and a bored stupor, it suddenly occured to me that there indeed may be some merit to Twitter, that so-called "social messaging utility" on the web that allows the whole world to see just how self-involved you really are.

I've added Twitter to the sidebar of this blog as a way to keep me honest about what I do in my garden. However, it isn't a webcam -- you'll just have to trust me. I'll try post whenever I do a garden-related activity; this, I'm hoping, will steer me toward more twitter and less twit out in the garden, that is, it should keep me from doing silly things like planting beefsteak tomatoes or avoiding those things I should be doing, like weeding and pruning...and pretty much everything else.