Lei-friendly weather helps keep prices reasonable

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Lei prices are expected to be reasonable for May Day, Wednesday, thanks to cooperative weather.

Two rare lei (alas, not readily available) for May Day: Front, "Tinan's Lei," is woven with raffia, bougainvillea, plumeria petals and laua'e leaves; rear, hybrid pua keni keni. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Prices should be pretty stable," said Sadie Akamine-Wolfe, proprietor of The Picket Fence in Kailua. "My suppliers don't raise the prices so I don't, either — contrary to what other people say and do.

"You're talking about a backyard product." "Many flowers grow in suppliers' yards, not farms. And the weather's been good for lei this year."

However, her hottest number, called "Tinan's Lei" after its creator, a Micronesian-style lei woven with raffia, laua'e fern, plumeria petals and ixora or bougainvillea, won't be available on Lei Day.

"Tinan was here (from Yap) in a high school program for three years and she did the lei for us during that time," Akamine-Wolfe said. "Then she got married. And she was here on a brief vacation, so she did more for us. But she's gone home. So unless we can make arrangements for her to ... ship them to us, it's gone." We managed to score the last Tinan Lei ($35) last week.

The Tinan was the lone "new" lei we found, after scanning a dozen lei sellers' lofts, and it's a beauty. It blends dried material with fresh petals and leaves; the combination works and the lei is one that would have another life when it dries.

Maunakea Street and the Honolulu International Airport stands continue to lure local patrons. However, most stands don't take Lei Day orders. It's easier just to deal with walk-ins, said Karen Laulee, manager of Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe in Chinatown. And no one gets stuck with six strands of precious 'ilima for a no-show.

Akamine-Wolfe said lei sales account for between a fourth and a third of her floral business on the Windward side.

"Kailua still is somewhat of a transient community, so a lot of people love lei and buy them for any occasion or reason," she said. "Every day can be Lei Day. A birthday. An anniversary."

Supply and demand is the rule at many lei dealers, an informal Advertiser survey indicated.

If, for instance, you pay $25 now for a Christina orchid lei — the fanciful beauty of magenta and white dendrobium orchids devised a few years ago — you can expect to cough up an additional $5 on Wednesday.

"It's all a matter of supply and demand," said Laulee. Prices spiral when need and want also increase.

"Some lei are the same price on May Day, but some will go up," said Linda Cayetano, an employee at Arthur's Lei Stand at the airport. She expected pikake to remain at $7 a strand but anticipated that delicate 'ohai ali'i may go up a few bucks.

Maile is trickier and you have to know the quality to appreciate the pricing. A generous double now will fetch $20 but likely will be in the $25 to $30 range come May Day. More leaves, more moolah.

Color and texture of the lei blossoms often influence prices, too. For example, pua keni keni, a fragrant favorite, can come in different hues and forms, from a subtle light yellow variety to a darker, golden tone. Prices vary with color. This is a lei that can bring joy a second day (despite some browning) if stored in damp newspaper or in a sealed plastic bag floating in water. Never refrigerate pua keni keni; it speeds browning.

Akamine-Wolfe is selling lei made with a pua keni keni hybrid "that is a cross between tiare, the Tahitian gardenia, and the pua keni keni." The flower looks like oversized pua keni keni with an elongated stem, but could be mistaken from afar as a plumeria offspring. The fragrance is remarkably distinct — sweet and romantic, but not as heady as pua keni keni or white gardenia.

The flowers are in season now; if she gets any for May Day, the cost would be $17.

Fragrance is always a consideration — both positive and negative. Some love to be surrounded by scent but others are allergic.

Scarcity is another consideration in pricing. A long-lasting lei, the round, orange-colored kikania, is valued for its brilliance and heartiness and worn short, necklace style, or longer, at chest level, with the fruit sewn according to graduating sizes. Unfortunately, it is practically nonexistent these days. Refrigerated, it can last for weeks — so it's worth the $15 it fetches when you can find it.

For long-lasting lei that side-step the issue of fragrance (some are allergic) and staining (from water or plant juices), there is always the artificial lei, such as Ernestine Spence's exquisite hand-crafted ribbon lei. Particularly prized is her realistic-looking 'ohai ali'i, which sells for $35. "For fragrance, some people like to wrap two strands of pikake with the (faux) 'ohai ali'i," she said. "Or baby roses." When the real lei dries, you simply discard it, saving the artificial until next May Day.

"A lot of graduates like it, too, because they can take the lei to Mainland colleges," said Spence.