Tag: featured

Should we use the REAL name of Poinsettias? CUETLAXOCHITL

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By Heidi Bornhorst

The first time I saw the real native name, I went no, WAY too hard to say!  But learning to spell Latin names is not that much easier. So maybe we should practice using the real name.

Break it down and it’s easier to say.  Write it and your brain will remember it.

It is pronounced: Kwet La sho Chel

Sing it! Let’s try and remember and use it.

Just like we respectfully use, and properly pronounce ohelo Hawai’i words, we probably shouldlearn to use the real name.

Not only is it a seasonal festive plant for us (and a big production for our nursery growers), starting in Hawaii about June with little plugs, it is a very special and significant plant in its native Mexico and Central America.

Red is original color, and many new variations now exist. I like the new colors for their novelty, but the rich red is so seasonal and joyous.

In Mexico they were symbolic and were also used for medicine (A special recipe induced breast milk). they are not as poisonous as some rumors suggest. Red and purple fabric dyes come from the colorful. bracts.

The “flowers” we see so brightly are actually bracts, modified leaves. The true flowers are yellow and green and are nestled in the center of the bracts.

For the past few years, I have been buying them from the UH Manoa Horticulture club, to help support and encourage students in the fine art of intensely growing and studying plants.

I love going up to Manoa to buy them and then sharing this growing gift with family, friends, and neighbors.

We also have the old-fashioned hedge type of Cuetlaxochitl in some Hawaii gardens. They are becoming a more rare plant to see. In Foster Village, where my husband grew up, we’d love to see all the pretty tall plants growing in gardens as we drove out to visit his folks. A particular house had green walls and it was so striking to see the plants growing there.

If you see one like this, you might ask the gardener for a cutting to grow. This is not among varieties growers produce today. This hedge type one is more of a perennial and will grow and bloom every year.

Who remembers the old hedge that the Board of Water supply grew along the Pali Highway in Nuuanu?

For many of us this was the true sign of the season.

​These seasonal flowers can last for months if you treat them right. They like light but not baking sunlight. Water them about once a week. Take off any decorative foil. Fill the pot with water and let it drain all the way out. Then put it back with your other Holiday decorations. They may last and stay red all the way to April!

An old gardener trick is to trim them back in the A months, April, and August. This holds true more for the hedge type.

Although I keep them alive a full year, these newer cultivars don’t look great. Nurseries use all kinds of special fertilizer and lighting to get them looking so pretty and perfect.

Espalier your Mango!

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With land so valuable in Hawaii, homes and gardens are getting smaller, yet we still want to grow fruit trees, but how can we?

Even with towering monster houses and high-rises blocking sunlight and air circulation, espalier is one solution which can help your garden to be more fruitful.

What does espalier mean and how is it done, you may wonder.

Espalier is a technique that is ancient yet artful.  We think it started with the Romans, and was enhanced by Europeans with Castle courtyards. The French enhanced and grew the technique to they could have fruit year round.

The word is French, with Italian origins. Spalla means something to rest the shoulder against in Italian.

Modern landscape design does look to the French and Italians.  Some of the first beautifully designed, landscaped gardens were in Italy, check them out on your next Continental journey. (Gardens are way more fun to visit than a museum, in my opinion, and you get better outdoor exercise too)

Espalier means”to train a fruit or flowering tree to grow flat against a wall, supported by a lattice, or a framework of stakes”.

Today we can use strong cables to train and attach mango or other fruiting tree branches to keep them low, to get maximum sun and air circulation, and for easy harvesting.  Or we can do something more artful and horticultural in our Hawaiian gardens.

The European reasons to do this apply here too:

  • Walls reflect sunlight
  • Walls retain heat overnight (trees use the heat and then cool the air)
  • Orient the leafy branches to absorb maximum light
  • Train the branches parallel to the equator to get max sunlight
  • Espalier extends the growing season

There are many designs of espalier, from a simple V-shape, to fans, crosses, Belgian fences and many more.  Some are curved or spiraled.

England is known for great gardens and akamai horticulture and they have one called a free-standing step over.  They do it with apple and pear trees and we can adopt this practice for our fruit trees here in Hawaii.

Mark Suiso of Makaha Mangoes is great proponent of mangoes and other fruit trees.  He encourages us to graft good mango varieties, prune them correctly and cherish every fruit. Recently he got us all re-excited about espalier.

Suiso and his ohana and friends have participated in Mangoes at the Moana for the last nine years.  We have learned and grown together and met many mango advocates.  It seems to me that we have more fruit these days and that more people are choosing to carefully prune and nurture their legacy mango trees.  People are planting new trees in their gardens.

It’s so important to support farmers, especially here in Hawaii.  To BUY a mango seems outrageous and not at all sustainable, please buy local!

After all, mangoes are the King (or Queen) of Fruit, just ask Queen Victoria (movie with Judi Dench, featuring her wanting to taste a mango from India)

P.s. I think we should try espalier with `Ulu or breadfruit too!  Horticulturists always love a garden challenge and what better one?

I espalier my mulberries, to keep them low for easy picking and out of my neighbor’s yard (they like the ‘golf course grass’ look) I also can net my fruit and protect them from the ravenous alien bulbuls and green escaped parrots that we have on Oahu.

In other places, such as Japan, Taiwan and Australia they do elaborate kinds of Horticulture including espalier to nurture and cherish every leaf, flower and fruit.  We could do this too!

I would love to hear from my readers, who are practicing espalier to nurture their own special fruit tree.  Please send pictures if you have them, we can all learn from and inspire each other.

Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a landscaping consultant, gardener trainer and specialty VIP garden guide. She has been a professional horticulturist for more than 33 years and she is a Certified Arborist. You can contact her via email at heidibornhorst@gmail.com or at 739-5594.

`Ulu aka Breadfruit, Healthy Food Production for Hawaii

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Dear Governor Ige, Famers, and back yard gardeners, do you want to increase local Healthy food production?  Eat more nutritious locally grown safe food?  Breadfruit is one of the best solutions for sustainable Food security, better health, and natural beauty.

Breadfruit aka`Ulu is a beautiful tree with great Cultural significance here in Hawaii, and across the Pacific.  Hawaiians and many other local cultures have a long tradition (including varied recipes and preservation techniques) with breadfruit.

`Ulu has many

healthy body benefits, it is rich in fiber, calcium, potassium, B vitamins, and pro-vitamin A carotenoids. It is a “resistant starch”, it does not spike your blood sugar like white rice or white potatoes. If more people ate breadfruit we would cut down on diabetes and other health issues related to refined starch and high sugar diet.

When people tell me they don’t like the taste, I figure they have not had it properly cooked, or it was picked at the wrong time – too green or too ripe.  Yes, the over ripe smashed on the ground ones from an over tall non-pruned tree, are not too ono!

As a Certified Arborist, I recommend keeping backyard trees at a medium height for safe and easy harvesting via careful pruning starting after the first harvest (about three to five years in the ground).

If you have a farm, and a tree climber or cherry picker you can let the tree grow larger, but keep in mind, well-managed trees are far more productive.

Ulu or Breadfruit Tree

Ulu is a beautiful and simple tree to grow, harvest and care for. It’s easier to grow, harvest and cook than kalo (taro). There is no need to dig up and replant like root and tuber crops. `Ulu are highly regarded as pest and disease resistant, especially when grown in mixed plantings with other crops and useful plants.

For a number of years I have worked with and learned from Dr. Diane Ragone of the Breadfruit Institute (BFI) of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG).  We have given away over 12,000 keiki trees here in Hawaii and sponsored numerous breadfruit cooking contests. Our local participating chefs and gourmets are so talented and creative.

hb-ulu-hei-palolo

Chef Sam Choy is one of our amazing and totally giving back to the community Chefs.  For such a famous chef he is so humble, hard-working and just plain fun to partner with. We did the Wai’anae Eat Local Food Challenge, cook off and Breadfruit tree give away with him, Ragone, the Ho’oulu ka ‘Ulu project, and other community partners.

I have participated in numerous Arbor Day breadfruit tree giveaways over the years, these can be  like a feeding frenzy, everybody wants a free tree. Unfortunately not everyone who took a tree actually planted it.

Because our precious `ulu trees are propagated by tissue culture, we decided to make the process of getting one similar to adoption, hoping to attract people committed to and able to grow the trees. We asked people to promise to plant them in the ground within a few months, this gives the family time to make a decision about where in plant and to properly prepare the planting puka (clear away grass and weeds and use compost or stone mulching to make a clear area for the baby tree to thrive).

We utilize social media by sharing pictures and posts to reflect how well the keiki ulu trees are growing and producing healthy ono food.

Mahalo for all those who adopted a tree, keep sharing your feedback and great posts!

Helpful Growing Tips

How to plant:

  • Find a sunny spot away from wires
  • Clear away grass and weeds
  • Use hot mulch to help kill off the grass and weeds
  • Plant the keiki tree
  • Make a ring of mulch
  •  Water daily to establish
  • Replenish the mulch every few month

How to cook:

  • Harvest at mature firm green stage
  • Gently scrub and clean the skin (no need to peel)
  • Oil a big sharp knife
  • Slice ‘ulu into quarters
  • Steam for 20 minutes (or until fork tender)
  • Cool and freeze for future use

Or you can cook to your own liking, I make a simple curry with sautéed onions, garlic and Olena (turmeric).

Please check out the Breadfruit institute page on-line to learn even more about planting, harvesting cooking and the various varieties of ulu that we can grow here in Hawaii.

If you received a tree, please participate in our survey to let us know how your tree is doing.

You can also visit NTBG, they have gardens on Kauai, and Kahanu Garden in Hana that have amazing breadfruit collections for visiting and for inspiration. You can also join and support the NTBG in its important work on our “living library” of valuable trees and plants.

Learn more about when fruit is ready to harvest and how to handle in the Breadfruit Production Guide by Elevitch, Ragone, and Cole. 2014.  Available free   Download: http://ntbg.org/breadfruit/resources/cms_uploads/Breadfruit_Production_Guide_web_edition_2014.pdf or http://hawaiihomegrown.net/breadfruit-publications

Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a landscaping consultant, gardener trainer and specialty VIP garden guide. She has been a professional horticulturist for more than 33 years. She is also a Certified Arborist. You can contact her via email at heidibornhorst@gmail.com or at 739-5594.

Hawaii Succulents

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Succulents are perfect for your Hawaii garden.

Succulent plants can be fun and easy to grow and care for.  They can even help protect your home and garden from wildfire.  They are less thirsty plants, perfect to conserve on water in our gardens and grow a Hawaii style xeriscape.  Some are perfectly adapted for our humid Hawaiian climate.

Others are not so good in Hawaii.  They may prefer a Mediterranean climate like that of California.  These may grow OK at first here in Hawaii, and then they “melt”.  They just wither and fade away and …. It’s NOT your fault!  Ice plant is an example of one of these plants. Native to South Africa, it will grow a year or two in Hawaii, seem to be doing well and then fades away.  We had a nice planting of it at the Halawa Xeriscape Garden on a slope, but its pau now.

Aloe and Jade plants are some of our best gel filled plants for Hawaii gardens.  Not only are they tough and easy, but they also will reward you with a flower now and then.  (Many of our Aloe species bloom in our Hawaiian winter, sending up a pretty lily-like orange or red flower spike).

We also have many epic native Hawaiian succulent plants.  Hinahina the Lei Flower of Kaho’olawe is one of the most beautiful.  It’s tough in the wild, in harsh HOT, ehukai air filled areas.

Our native Hawaiian `ihi or Portulaca species are succulent and tough, with very pretty flowers. Portulaca molokiniensis is one of the most striking, with clusters of golden yellow flowers and a squat succulent growth habit.

`Ala`ala wai nui our Hawaiian Peperomias are also a cute succulent plant with many native species from various dryland and wetland habitats.  In wet places, they can grow happily on big pohaku or boulders, or epiphytically up in trees. These native habitats have perfect drainage.  Something we need to try and horticulturally replicate when we grow them in our gardens.

If you live in a wildfire prone area, you might consider a low scape including succulents. You can find many that are native to and grow well in Hawaii.

In a classic succulent vs fire story from California, a huge wildfire was sweeping through a San Diego, California neighborhood, many homes and gardens were destroyed.  Yet one (artist) lady had grown a low maintenance garden full of succulents including Aloe. It was a giant Aloe plant that is credited with helping save her house.  Though it burnt and appeared dead, its heart was full of moisture and the water stored in its tissues slowed the fire long enough to save the home.  The aloe also survived and with time revived after the fire.

Coastal and dry forest plants have adaptations to survive and thrive in hot dry salty windy areas.  Portulacca molokinienis or Molokini `ihi is one of the cutest, with a fat stalk, rosettes of succulent leaves and clusters of golden yellow flowers.

We have other native Portulaccas, which we call `ihi.  They can have white, pink or yellow flowers.  Most are easy to grow from cuttings.  They can also be grown from seeds.

Hinahina, the lei flower of Kahoolawe has the most gorgeous silvery rosettes of leaves and curled flower spikes of tiny white fragrant flowers.  Super gorgeous in the garden and very xeric once established.

The rare Alula, Brighamia citrina, native to the pali, steep cliff areas and today found only along Kalalau on Kauai, is being saved by gardeners who love its fat stalk, clusters of leaves and long tubular fragrant blossoms.

All of these native Hawaiian succulents need slug and snail protection.  Surround them with coarse black or red cinder, egg shells or a ring of used coffee grounds.  Copper strips and food grade diatomaceous earth also help to repel slugs and snails.

Gardener vigilance is good too.  Check on them at night or after heavy rains and manually remove slugs using a plastic bag to grab and then dispose of them.  Or do like my kolohe neighbor does, poke ‘em jubilantly with his old fishing spear and then dunk them in a bucket of soapy water, then bag them into the trash bin.

Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a landscaping consultant, gardener trainer and specialty VIP garden guide. She has been a professional horticulturalist for more than 33 years and is a Certified Arborist. You can contact her via email at heidibornhorst@gmail.com or at 739-5594.

 

Succulents for your Hawaii garden

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Succulent plants can be fun and easy to grow and care for.  They may even help protect your home and garden from wildfire.  They are considered “less thirsty” plants, helping to conserve water in our gardens and known to flourish in a Hawaii style xeriscape.

Some succulents are perfectly adapted for our humid Hawaiian climate, and some do not do well in Hawaii.  The ones that don’t may prefer a Mediterranean climate like that of California.  These plants typically seem to grow okay in Hawaii, and then suddenly they melt, wither and fade away and …. It’s NOT your fault!  Ice plant is a good example of these types of plants. Native to South Africa, it’s somewhat of an alien pest in California, yet looks great along their freeway embankments and coastal roadways.  In Hawaii these plants will grow a year or two, seem to be doing well, then fade away.  We had a nice planting of it at the Halawa Xeriscape Garden on a slope, but its pau now.

Aloe and Jade plants are considered some of our best gel filled plants for Hawaii gardens.  Not only are they sturdy and easy to grow,  they also will reward you with a flower now and then.  (Many of our Aloe species bloom in our Hawaiian winter, sending up a pretty lily like orange or red flower spike).

So which epic native Hawaiian succulent plants grow best in Hawaii?

Hinahina the Lei Flower of Kaho`olawe is one of the most beautiful.  It’s durable in the wild, in harsh HOT, ehukai air-filled areas.

Our native Hawaiian `ihi or Portulaca species are succulent and tough, with very pretty flowers. Portulaca molokiniensis is one of the most striking, with clusters of golden-yellow flowers and a squat succulent growth habit.

`Ala`ala wai nui our Hawaiian Peperomias are a cute succulent plant with many native species from various dry land and wetland habitats.  In wet places, they can grow happily on big pohaku or boulders, or epiphytically up in trees. These native habitats have perfect drainage.  Something we need to try to horticulturally replicate when we grow them in our gardens.

A classic fire story comes to us from California.  A big fire was sweeping through a San Diego neighborhood. Everyone evacuated.  Many homes and gardens were torched.  There also was an artist lady, with no time for fussy gardening or watering, who had planted a low garden full of succulents including massive aloe plants. The one giant aloe near her art studio was basically creditied with saving her house. Though the plant burnt, it was full of gel.  Its heart of moisture and water stored in its tissues slowed down the fire enough to save the home.  The aloe plant also managed to survive and with time revived after the fire.

If you live in a wildfire prone area, you might consider a low scape including succulents.  We have many that are native to Hawaii.

Coastal and dry forest plants have adaptations to survive and thrive in hot dry salty windy areas.  Portulacca molokinienis or Molokini `ihi is one of the cutest, with a fat stalk, rosettes of succulent leaves and clusters of golden-yellow flowers.

We have other native Portulaccas, which we call `ihi.  They can have white, pink or yellow flowers.  Most are easy to grow from cuttings, or can be grown from seeds.

Hinahina, the lei flower of Kahoolawe has the most gorgeous silvery rosettes of leaves and curled flower spikes of tiny white fragrant flowers.  Stunning in the garden and very xeric once established.

The rare Alula, Brighamia citrina, native to the pali, steep cliff areas and today found only along Kalalau on Kauai, is being saved by gardeners who love its fat stalk, clusters of leaves and long tubular fragrant blossoms.

All of these native Hawaiian succulents need slug and snail protection.  Surround them with coarse black or red cinder, egg shells or a ring of used coffee grounds.  Copper strips and food grade diatomaceous earth also help to repel slugs and snails.

Gardener vigilance is important too.  Check on them at night or after heavy rains and manually remove slugs using a plastic bag to grab and then dispose of them.  Or do like my kolohe neighbor does, poke ‘em jubilantly with his old fishing spear and then dunk them in a bucket of soapy water, then bag them into the trash bin.

 

 

Bougainvillea, Seasonal Gifts

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I sure appreciated the gift of Bougainvillea this winter!  I made a lot of lei for the holidays along with Birthdays, an almost 50th wedding anniversary (Masami and Pearl) and hostess gifts for the Hostess with the mostest.

I made flower arrangements for some, but the gift of a hand sewn lei is true aloha.  Yes, a florist can be faster and easier (except for the driving and parking) but where’s the fun in that? I know that mine are flowers and plants grown in Hawaii and chemical free.

With the weird weather and things blooming out of time this past winter, I did find a few Plumeria, and Pua keni keni.  My na`u or native Gardenia has been blooming like crazy, stimulated by the bountiful rains and the super moons…. I think….  The buds of na`u make for an amazing lei.  I pick them as buds, put them in tiny vases or in the fridge immersed in water, if I really want to slow down the blooming and unfurling phase.

But I didn’t have quite enough, so I looked around my garden and my neighborhood and went AH hah!  Bougainvillea!  This plant is a winter bloomer, the short days of winter stimulate it to bloom (just like Poinsettias) Bougainvillea are native to Brazil and Poinsettias to Mexico…

The bright Bougie “flowers” that catch our eyes are actually colorful bracts, or modified leaves. The true flowers are white and peek out from the bracts.  Collect the flowers in a bag, clean and pluck them and start stringing.  I like to watch recorded surf meets on TV when I string a lei.

hb-boug-arch

 

It takes me back to small kid time where we would make lots of lei, mostly from Plumeria and bougainvillea, abundant in our neighborhood and easy to string.  The other great thing about Bougies is that they dry well and retain some of their color.

For years we had the purple Bougies, quite thorny and apt to go wild.  Our family had a rule: NO Bougies planted in the ground, after my dad battled a wild thorny purple one for over 10 years, getting poked and mad, and killed our prized rainbow plumeria in the process.  (Always read the labels when using chemicals, or hire a professional)

As a landscape designer I always caution my clients to think long and hard before planting one in the ground.  They are way more manageable in a pot.  I dislike pruning the big wild ones due to the thorns.

If you have a wild hillside and need color – Grow for it, plant them in the ground.  They are great on the freeway embankments and so pretty.  They are also a xeric or less thirsty plant.  I love seeing them in Kona and in Kalaupapa.

We got many new varieties thanks to the vision of Paul Weissich of the Honolulu botanic gardens and the plant connections of the late Donald Angus, in the 1960s and early ‘70s.  Together they collected and legally imported new and wonderful varieties like ‘Miss Manila’ (peach and colored a hybrid from the P.I.) and the double flowered ‘Carmencita’.  Plant sales were wild events in those days, with people lining up to get these new exciting varieties.  Today they are part of the landscape and many don’t know how much effort it took to bring them here.

The na`u or native gardenia, G. brighamii, was brought back from the brink of extinction, by Conservationists and horticulturists.  Today many are grown in gardens and their unique perfume makes for a very nice lei, hair adornment or gorgeous native Hawaiian addition to your garden.  It’s also very important to protect and nurture them in the wild, by controlling weeds, feral animals and wildfire.

Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a landscaping consultant, gardener trainer and specialty VIP garden guide. She has been a professional horticulturalist for more than 33 years, and she is a Certified Arborist.

You can contact her via email at heidibornhorst@gmail.com or at 739-5594.