HAWAI'I GARDENS
'Harlequin' will debut at orchid exhibition

By Heidi Bornhorst

•	'Wild World of Orchids' Honolulu Orchid Society's 63rd annual Orchid, Plant and Flower Show 9 a.m.-8 p.m. today and tomorrow; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall Free

Orchid expert and phalaenopsis grower Randall Tajima told me about some exciting new orchids on sale: the "Harlequin" or "black" phalaenopsis. These butterfly orchids have white to cream colored flowers with chocolate and purple spots. This is the newest orchid trend, fresh from Taiwan. There are also red- and sunset-toned phalaenopsis or which are the No. 1-selling orchid. Phalaenopsis are easily grown indoors without a greenhouse, either in a sunny window or under lights. You can see more at Tajima's Web site, www.midpacificorchids.com, or phone him at 735-5678.

If you attend the exhibit on Sunday, be aware that plant sales will close at 3 p.m.

More information on the orchid show: honoluluorchsoc.tripod.com.

Moloka'i blooms for Kaho'olawe

At the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plant material center on Moloka'i, Bob Joy, Glenn Sakamoto and Nancy Buckman are among staffers and volunteers growing many native Hawaiian plants. One of their missions is to help revegetate and restore Kaho'olawe. We usually think of planting natives one by one.

This is not practical when the whole island needs to be revegetated before all the soil blows away or washes out to sea. One of their goals is to mechanically harvest and grow natives on a huge scale to "regreen" the barren island.

Some of the plants growing and blooming there are Hawaiian grasses, pili, 'aki'aki, and kawelu or love grass; ma'o or Hawaiian cotton, 'a'ali'i, Moloka'i tree ohai (which has a special fragrance), wiliwili, koai'a, and alahe'e.

Growers also are testing the drought-tolerant nature of native plants, how they react to herbicides and other methods of efficiently controlling weeds.

Pili grass is one plant on which growers are using large-scale agricultural techniques. Pili seeds require a dormancy period before they will germinate. The growers have found that if they bale the pili grass, the seeds can lie inside safe and protected until they are ready to germinate.

The bale acts as mulch, provides shade and collects windblown soil and seeds. In this way, the pili grass bales effectively form their own pili grass and native plant nursery. The bales are carried over to Kaho'olawe via helicopter and are. helping reseed the island.

Detailed records are being kept of where the plants came from and how well they grow. Learning how best to grow, culture and perpetuate native Hawaiian plants is a most important science for us all.

At Mo'omomi, a famous fishing area and one of Moloka'i's few somewhat-intact sand dune ecosystems for native coastal plants, the Hui o Mo'omomi, with strong support and leadership from Mac Poepoe, has restored fragile and rare native beach plants to the area.

Poepoe humbly calls himself an ocean person and a fisherman, wanting to keep the mud and dust off the reef and out of the water in the rainy season. He knows Hawaiian coastal plants are crucial in keeping the soil where it belongs as well as being beautiful and nurturing.

The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i also is active in managing and protecting the special plants at Mo'omomi and elsewhere in Hawai'i.

Heidi Bornhorst is director of Honolulu's botanical gardens.

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