Gardens of the World : Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, Kaneohe, Hawaii

The Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden is a fairly large (400 acres) and recent (1982) garden established by the US Army Corps of Engineers in Kaneohe as flood protection for that town of about 35,000 people. Kaneohe is part of the City and County of Honolulu on the east shore of the island of Oahu, and is home to a large Marine Corps Base. 

Because of that role as flood protection, the garden includes a large pond whose water is retained by an earth dam, and which attracts various fish and birds, including the endangered Hawaiian coot (photo below). This garden is also a recreation area with various activities such as catch and release fishing, picnicking and camping.

Several collections of plants native to various tropical and subtropical regions of the world can be found there. The trees are still small in most part due to the fairly recent development of the garden. Here are some notable plants found there, first some flowers:

Heliconias (also called lobster claws or false bird-of-paradise) are a family of plants belonging to the order of 'zingiberales', which includes ginger, banana, cardamom and turmeric. With their long hanging spikes of brightly colored and delicately shaped flowers, heliconias are cultivated all over tropical and subtropical parts of the world as ornamentals and for the flower trade. The flowers are an important food source for forest hummingbirds.

The white shrub flower below, Princess or Lady of the Night, is fragrant and from Puerto Rico, and is available from nurseries as an ornamental. The plant is part of the potato family:

Another white flower that MUST be shown here is the plumeria, native to Mexico, Central and South America, but so ubiquitous in Hawaii that it would be easy to believe that they are endemic there. In the Pacific Islands the flowers are used to make leis but also to indicate the relationship status of a woman when worn in her hair, depending on which side (available if on the right, taken if on the left). Due to their fragrance the flowers are also used in perfumery (soaps, incense, etc.)

Switching to orange flowers, here's the Colville's Glory, a tree from the bean family and native from Madagascar. Those trees display large clusters of showy flowers and are used as ornamentals for that reason:

 

And the pods are quite pretty too:

The flowers above are called 'naupaka' in Hawaiian. Eight species are endemic to Hawaii. A closer look (by clicking on the photo) will show the flowers as if they were cut in half. There are legends around why this flower grows this way, one being that 'a woman tears the flower in half after a quarrel with her lover. The gods, angered, turn all naupaka flowers into half flowers and the two lovers remained separated while the man is destined to search in vain for another whole flower.^'

The kukui or candlenut tree (flowers below with a fruit and leaves) has a long history of economic importance to several civilizations, including Hawaii, and because of this it is the tree state. One of those uses is for kukui nut oil. (When hiking on forest trails in Hawaii one can often walk on beds of fallen kukui nuts.)

Now for some interesting fruit - figs are a delicious fruit for humans, but they're also an important food source for many birds and mammals. There are more than 800 species of fig trees, some of which can grow more than 20 m. Here's one below:

 
Gardenia flowers, for those who can grow them in our climate, are very fragrant and a joy to see. During my visit to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden though, the gardenias were no longer in bloom. Instead, grapefruit-size fruits were adorning the bushes of this Transvaal gardenia (above).

Nature provides a diversified array of defenses to plants to protect them from unwanted predators. Among those there's the spiny palm tree, of which several species exist (below):

Another palm tree with an interesting trunk pattern is the talipot palm tree (from India and Sri Lanka), where the palm stems cross each other around the trunk:

The tree below - a white paperback or cajeput tree (from Australia and New Guinea) is shown for a very specific reason. 

This was the last tree I noticed at the end of my visit & for some reason I decided to tear off a small piece of bark as it seemed to detach easily. The bark piece that was coming off was larger than anticipated, but it's what I found beneath that quickly changed my mind:

For more information on that arthropod please click here. The visible part of that centipede is about the length of my hand (no exaggeration!), and we can see about two-thirds of it, based on the number of leg pairs. The head is hidden. Since then I have not touched ANY tree bark in Hawaii....
On a lighter note, here's the Hawaiian coot mentioned above, a bird of the hen family (as can be seen from its legs) but which is also a good swimmer:

(article and photos by Denise Motard)

Window boxes and containers

Emily Jewell took care of the technical aspects while Barb Jewell made her presentation.

At the February 2014 meeting of the Garden Club of PEI Barb Jewell, of Jewell’s Country Market in Marshfield PE,  spoke about her vast experience in creating window boxes and containers for her customers.  Her family business grows plants and creates containers for sale, does custom planting for residential customers, and also has a number of business customers, including the Delta Hotel in Charlottetown and across the street at the Merchantman Pub. Barb credits the staff of those establishments with helping with the daily tasks of deadheading and watering. 

 

Barb’s job at the greenhouse business includes ordering plants, scheduling and selecting the plants to be used in containers and hanging baskets.  Things get started in the greenhouse during the 12^th week before the last frost – which is the third week in March. 

Some customers come in with their own containers, and Barb will plant them with whatever the customer chooses.  She cautions customers to make sure the containers have proper drainage.  Some people put rocks in the bottom of containers but Barb fills her entire container with good quality soil-less mix.

She says that often the customers will choose the geraniums which are most vividly blooming at the time; however, by the time the customer sees the final planting, Barb has removed the flowers because falling petals which land on the leaves tend to cause botrytis – disease and yellowing. New buds will form quickly, and the planting will soon be full of blooms.

Choosing plants

Before you go to the nursery, make a list of the plants you want.  Do some research on the Internet or look through seed catalogues to get inspired.  Before buying, tip out the plant.  The roots should be white, not brown.

When choosing plants, group together plants with similar needs.  Plants with different needs will not thrive together in a container.  In a formal setting, choose a formal arrangement of plants, such as dracaena, geraniums, and neat trailers.  Plants around a pool should not have petals that blow off easily and end up in the water.  Choose large tropicals like cannas instead.

In late spring, Gerbera daisies are in full bloom and look beautiful.  But by late July, they stop blooming.  If you plant them in containers, make sure you have other plants that will take over and bloom once Gerberas no longer produce flowers.

Growing conditions

When choosing plants for containers, consider where the container will be placed.  A container which gets full sun all day will need different types of plants than one that will be placed in the shade.  Morning sun is not as intense as afternoon sun. 

Plant tags

Plants are sold with a plastic tag that contains a wealth of information.   It will let you know the botanical name, common name, colour of flowers and leaves, when it will bloom, whether it prefers sun or shade, and plant habit (i.e. trailing or mounding).

The tags also come with a label that you can scan with your smart phone.  You can even take a picture of the tag and the plant and create a digital record of the plants you purchase every year.  This will make it easier to choose plants next year.

Soil

When planting containers, plants will perform better if you use fresh soil every year. 

It is very important to use good quality soil-less mix which is a mixture of perlite, peat moss, cocoa fibre, and a chemical wetting agent.  It also contains a small amount of fertilizer.  The brands they use are ASB or Sunshine #4.  This comes in hard, compacted bales that need to be broken up and moistened.  The greenhouse has a machine that automatically breaks up the bales and adds water and makes it much easier to fill containers. 

Water

Watering is the most important job in the greenhouse, because plants dry out fast and can die fast.

Fertilizer

Because plants in containers have a limited amount of soil, and soil-less mix has very few nutrients, fertilizer should be applied twice a week.  20-20-20 slow-release is a good all-purpose fertilizer.  Barb tries to stay away from artificial fertilizers, and recommends making your own compost tea or manure tea to water your plants.  Organic fertilizer does not interfere with the beneficial organisms in the soil that keep roots healthy.
 

Never fertilize when the soil is very dry.  Moisten thoroughly before watering.  If the weather is very warm, flush the plant with straight water to prevent the build-up of mineral salts.

Vegetative vs seed started plants

A plant marked “vegetative” was started from a cutting, not from seed.  Vegetative plants are usually sold individually and are more expensive than those started from seed.  Vegetative plants are usually more vigorous, produce more flowers, and generally perform better.

Jewell’s buys thousands of unrooted cuttings and plants them up.  Their greenhouse has a warm-water misting stem and bottom heat, which provides ideal conditions.

Transplanting

Make sure the transplanting soil and the plant is moist.  When taking the plant out of the container, loosen the roots before transplanting. 

Geraniums

Jewell’s grows geraniums from cuttings and from seed.  About 75% of the geraniums they sell are red.  Vegetative geraniums are more vigorous and more expensive than those started from seed.

Recommended plants

• Proven Winners is a licensed brand that offers plants that are more expensive but are quite successful.

Gaura (above) Karalee Petite Pink

Calliope Dark Red geranium (above) – a cross between ivy and zonal geranium – very vigorous

Rocky Mountain Dark Red geranium(above) – with the proper light, these two should bloom all season

Boston Fern – (above) good for a shady or part-sun location.  They are lush and easy to look after.  Take them inside in the fall.  They are good in hanging baskets.

Lobelia – (above) choose vegetative varieties.  they are more vigorous and will last all season.  

Mounding habit is better than trailing

Coleus – many colours to choose from – some are more sun tolerant than others – check the tag - above is Keystone Copper, which tolerates sun and shade

Bidens (above) – fertilize every week, or it will get tired

Juncus (twisted)

Lantana- good for hot, dry areas

Trixi confetti liners - three different varieties grown together

For more information about Jewell's Country Market, visit http://jewellscountrymarket.com

Gardens of the World : FOSTER BOTANICAL GARDEN, Honolulu, Hawaii

The Foster Botanical Garden is located on Vineyard Boulevard in the center of Honolulu, Hawaii, i.e. in a highly urban area. It is the oldest of the five botanical gardens administered by the city. It started in 1853 when Queen Kalama leased a small area of land to William Hildebrand, a young German doctor and botanist.

Many of the large trees in the garden were planted by Dr. Hildebrand during his twenty year tenure. Then the property was sold to Thomas and Mary Foster, who continued to develop the garden, which was bequeathed to the City of Honolulu in 1930.

The first director, Dr. Harold Lyon, then introduced thousands of trees and plants and started its famous orchid collection. Today the garden has fourteen acres of plants from various parts of the world - but also native Hawaiian plants. It has about a hundred trees of 'exceptional significance', either for their size or rarity or origin.

 

 

Owing to their geographic isolation (3,000 km from the nearest continent), the Hawaiian Islands have developed a unique eco-system over their short history, geologically speaking (between half a million to five million years for the main islands). Which means the islands have a unique flora and fauna. However, it is today difficult to distinguish between endemic and introduced species, the latter having spread all over the islands. Introduced species started with the arrival of the first human settlements around 1,400 years ago. It is to be expected to find a variety of plants from various parts of the world in a botanical garden, and the Foster garden is no exception.

 

Let's start with some interesting trees: the first one is a baobab, originating mainly from Madagascar. Several large specimens can be found in various parks (but not in private gardens due to their size) in Hawaii, as they can make spectacular trunks with nothing growing on them and then the foliage appears only at the top. You can tell the size of the trunk of this one by looking at the size of the label on it, seen on the other photo. You can also get an idea of the height of that tree by the size of the trunk.

 

 

Another giant is the quipo (or cuipo or macondo), from South America. It has the softest wood of all trees and is bare eleven months out of twelve. Its roots are a source of water for those trekking in the forests where it grows. The trunk size of that tree was almost the same as the baobab shown above.

The Nile tulip tree can grow up to 85 meters, and has spectacular flowers, often orange, and is frequently grown as an ornamental in Hawaii. It's always a pleasant surprise to see such colors on top of large trees because at that height we usually only see green foliage:

 

 

Another tree with showy flowers is the Poinciana (called Ohai Ali'i in Hawaiian, also 'Flamboyant') from the bean family. It is endangered in its native habitat (Madagascar) but is widely cultivated as an ornamental:

 



 

How about a tree that grows cannon balls? It bears that name due to its globe-shaped fruit that grow along the trunk. They are edible, and the flowers they come from are fragrant. For that reason, and because of its unusual fruit, it is grown as an ornamental.

 

 

The tree above, 'breadfruit', could apparently save the world from hunger if it were more widespread. It is a staple food for many societies. The baked fruit has a 'potato-like flavor similar to freshly baked bread', hence its name.

Garden visitors can also see specimens of : arrow poison tree, a be-still tree (poisonous), a bottle palm tree (bottle-shaped trunk), a carnauba wax palm tree (this wax is used in automobile waxes, shoe polish, dental floss), kola nut tree (used in beverages due to its caffeine), fig trees, gold trees (which actually grow tiny particles of gold and other minerals on their leaves), kukui and macadamia trees (with edible nuts and oils of many uses), lettuce tree, elephant ear tree (thus named due to the spape of its pods), silk cotton tree and teak tree.



The garden has an orchid conservatory, and some varieties are shown below. (I apologize to orchid lovers for not taking down the name of each variety, but hopefully some of those might already be familiar to them.)

 

 

The garden has a section on economic plants (spices, herbs, dyes), where I found a totally different type of creeping thyme (t. serpyllum) than the one we are familiar with here on the island, but the leaves did smell like thyme though. Then there was the other thyme (t. vulgaris) used as a culinary and medicinal herb, but this one was also different - much taller:

 

 

In that same section one can find the Buddha's Hand (or Fingered Citron), a small tree whose fruit is very fragrant and for that reason is used in China and Japan for perfuming rooms and clothing. It is also edible and used as a religious offering:

 

 



Other notable flowers include the spider lily, frequently grown as an ornamental due to its fragrant white flowers (below) at the end of a long stem, which are easily cut to make bouquets. The following photo shows a tiny visitor (gold dust day gecko) among the leaves. Geckos are useful as they eat cockroaches, and for that reason some people tolerate them in their houses. (That cute species is also the mascot of the GEICO insurance company, a successful marketing move.)

 

 

Bromeliads are a very large family (more than 3,000 species) including the pineapple and Spanish moss (the smallest of the family). They are favored as an ornamental because of their foliage, which often grows as a rosette with different shades of red, green and/or gold:

 

 

There is also a community garden at the Foster Botanical Garden. Here are some photos from that garden:



 



 

The next article of the Gardens of the World series will feature the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, also part of the botanical gardens administered by the City and County of Honolulu.

 

(article and photos by Denise Motard)