Homestyle
Hawai'i's flowering plants, fruits make gracious gifts

By Heidi Bornhorst

We are lucky that we have many choice plants that bloom in winter in Hawai'i.

Of course, we have poinsettia. Nurseries have been working carefully and hard for many months to bring this Christmas flower to you (and at cheap and reasonable prices, considering the precise timing and meticulous horticulture required to produce them just at the right time). We should support our local nurseries by buying, sharing and giving these wonderful plants at this time of year. The white or snowflake poinsettia is another pretty plant that does well in pots or in the ground in Hawai'i.

Plants are one of the best gifts and you can avoid the crowds at the mall by shopping at your favorite plant place. Who would be unhappy with a potted blooming orchid, poinsettia in all their flavors or a Christmas cactus?

Bougainvillea in all colors are looking choice this year, in gardens, along the freeways and roads, and happy and reasonable in your favorite garden shop or plant nursery. A potted bougainvillea is always a cheery present to bring to a party or gathering and lasts long after the holiday season.

I was looking around at all the plants we have in bloom and wanted to share some thoughts about them. Some festive winter combinations are:

• Lehua haole or calliandra with its big powderpuff flowers that come in red, white and pink is very splashy with color. It is pretty in the landscape, as a hair ornament and in flower arrangements.

• White snowflake poinsettia and firecracker plant covers the Christmas and New Year's season, and the fluffy white is well complemented by the arching stems and bright red flowers of the firecracker (a great, less-thirsty plant, by the way).

• White poinsettia and pentas. I saw one of the new bright magenta pentas against the poinsettia, and the combo was lovely.

• Old-fashioned roses and white poinsettias; both with lovely perfume combined with the holiday scents of goodies baking and barbecues smokin'.

• Red poinsettia and white orchids — dendrobiums and phaleonopsis, even cattleya make a dramatic statement. Orchids are great, some varieties bloom well in winter. Great gardener Mary Jane Lee had a long pendant white butterfly orchid in a tree, perfect for Hawaiian snow.

Seasonal fruits

Tangerines fruit at this time of year and the small-to-medium trees are very ornamental and symbolic of the season with their luscious orange fruit and shiny green leaves.

If your garden is tiny, consider kalamansi (calamondin or Chinese orange). These are also both one for eating and cooking.

If you live in a cool, upper elevation area think of kaki or persimmon. These fruit are pretty and taste delicious. My favorite ones for eating are the dried kaki that a sales rep used to bring me from a Kula farm.

Decorating ideas

Norfolk pines in a pot or cut are good to have around right now. These bright green "Hawaiian Christmas trees" grow well, have a pleasing color and are easy to decorate or to leave simple and green. They last a long time if cut, stay green and don't drop needles or become a fire hazard. Environmentally they are also cool and "green" because new insect pests don't hitch rides with them the way they might on container loads of Mainland trees.

Come to Foster Gardens to see what Recreation Specialist Joyce Spoehr and her merry elves in the garden craft club have created with garden-based decor on mini Norfolk pines, and their creative ideas with locally-gathered greens, Christmas berry, lipstick or achiote pods, dragon tree leaves and other red and orange bits, gathered in local gardens.

Driving around local neighborhoods can bring great decorating ideas, or check out the holiday decor around town.

Heidi Bornhorst is director of Honolulu's five botanical gardens. Reach her by e-mail at islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com.