An Old Hawaiian Garden

I%26#39;m enjoying a book entitled ';In An Old Hawaiian Garden, An Album of Hawaii%26#39;s Flowers';, written by the poet Don Blanding. I believe he was known as the Poet Laureate of Hawaii, although he was originally from Oklahoma. The book is a compilation of poems inspired by the flowers of Hawaii, and each poem is accompanied by a beautiful picture painted by T.J. Mundorff. I found the book in the local library. This lovely album inspires me to ask of fellow forum readers: What are your memories of Hawaiian flowers, trees, and foliage?

My husband and I were recently on the Big Island in late April/early May. The Jacaranda trees were in bloom, and dotted the hillsides by the dozens along the Mamalahoa Highway on the Big Island%26#39;s west side. What a lovely color! The blossoms are a pale mauve or lavender, and are highly visible against the shades of brown and black of the dry, volcanic soil. Also, the Lehua blossoms of the Ohia tree seemed to be at their peak, and were everywhere.

';...The red of Lehua blooms bright against lava, like coals from old fires, like sparks brightly burning.....'; Don Blanding

An Old Hawaiian Garden

Well, I have to be away from my computer for a few hours, so before I go, I could leave you with a

bump

or, I can quote some more from Don Blanding (hope that%26#39;s permitted in a public forum such as this):

'; I might forget the surf at Waikiki......

I think I never shall, and yet I might.

I might forget the golden hula-moons

And music pusling in the tropic night.

I think I shan%26#39;t forget Hawaiian skies,

Nor Island mountains, nor the jungle%26#39;s musk.

But this I know, I never shall forget

The fragrance of Plumeria inthe dusk.';

Don Blanding. It is neither great nor world-class poetry, but certainly evocative of Hawaii, and very beautiful to me.

An Old Hawaiian Garden

....and that%26#39;s ';music pulsing';, not ';pusling';. ';Pusling'; sounds like it could be a little vulgar ;-)

Hi northwest,

What a thoughtful and beautiful post. I%26#39;m going to the library tomorrow to see if it has the book you are enjoying. I%26#39;m not good at matching up names of flowers to what they look like unless I%26#39;ve seen them many times over and if I love the way they look or smell. It sounds like this book would help me with that.

I agree with Don Blanding about ';the fragrance of plumeria in the dusk';. I appreciate the abundance of many different colors, shapes, and fragrances of the flora in Hawaii but the scent and the simple beauty of a plumeria stands out for me.

Mahalo and Aloha.

When I was child living on Oahu in the early 60%26#39;s my parents were not gardners by any means, but a previous owner of our house must have been a fabulous one. We had hibiscus and ti plants, crotons, papaya and monkey pod trees. Our front yard was dominated by a large plumeria tree with yellow and white flowers. Even now I love the smell of plumeria so much it makes my heart ache. Sometimes people would knock on our door and ask to pick the flowers to make leis; my father would be thrilled to let them. Wouldn%26#39;t you know, the next day that tree would be full of flowers again. I remember sometimes large flocks of myna birds would cover the whole side yard where my mother tried to hang laundry to dry. The only thing our yard didn%26#39;t have was a palm tree, so I planted a coconut in a sunny corner. When I returned to Oahu twenty years ago I drove by the house to see my coconut tree. It was probably 25 feet tall and a lovely sight.

My husband and I are planning a vacation to take our son to Hawaii in November. I wish we could drive by the old house in Oahu but we won%26#39;t have the time. It seems like I%26#39;ve missed Hawaii my whole life.

Helene,

Such a great post. I really love hearing about such lovely memories. Are you returning to Oahu after 20 years?

Thanks Leila,

We%26#39;ll only be passing through Oahu on our way to the big island, although I%26#39;m feeling a little nostalgic now and may regret it. We decided to limit our packing and unpacking by only visiting one island, and I think the big island has the best of everything. November can%26#39;t come soon enough for me!

Helene

Thank you, Helene, for the vivid description of the garden of your childhood. What wonderful memories you will have with you always. Leila, I%26#39;m glad you are interested in Don Blandings works; I believe most of them are out of print now. But you should be able to locate them in your library system.

Aloha Helene %26amp; Garden Folks,

You could take a plumeria branch back with you to grow in Baltimore. There is an agricultural inspection station at the Kona Airport and one in Hilo by Tykes Laundry. Just take the box you want to pack the plumeria branches in with you and some packing tape to the inspection station. They will check for bugs, then let you pack the plumeria in the box and then they will put ';inspected'; stamps on it and you can take the box back with you to the mainland. It is a free inspection.

Usually there are broken branches under plumeria trees, but if there aren%26#39;t you could ask the owner and they will probably let you have a branch. Plant it in really well drained soil and give it some sun. Half cactus mix and half african violet soil mix would be about the right consistency of soil for a plumeria. Hopefully soon you will have plumeria blossoms at home. It is about the only way you%26#39;d get fresh plumeria there since they only last one day and don%26#39;t ship well at all. I think the yellow and white ones smell the best.

You can also plant a coconut and grow it on the mainland, but they never stop growing and after five or six years you%26#39;d probably have to build a conservatory for it.

Thanks for mentioning the book, Northwestnerd, I%26#39;ll see if it is in our library, it sounds like good reading.

A hui hou,

Hotzcatz

Aloha Hotzcatz:

This is one of the best pieces of information I%26#39;ve ever read on this forum. Next time I%26#39;m in Hawaii, I know what gift I can bring home to my mom, who is also known as She For Whom All Things Grow. She will be ecstatic. Of course, she might be more ecstatic if I bring her along with us on our next trip......

Thank you, Hotzcatz, for sharing that wonderful advice with us.

What a great idea, Hotzcatz. I%26#39;m going to give it a try. My husband loves snorkling and fishing, and my son wants to see the volcanoes, but for me the best thing about the tropics is the lush vegetation, the bird sounds, and fragrances. I definitely want to visit the botanical gardens while we%26#39;re in Hilo. The zoo you mentioned on another post will be on our list too.