HAWAI'I GARDENS
Stephanotis, jade vines worth having in a garden

By Heidi Bornhorst

Q. My stephanotis has produced seeds. Can you tell me the best way to germinate them?

A. Stephanotis forms big green pods. Watch as they dry and start to split open, and catch the tiny winged seeds.ÊPlant them in a clean pot of potting mix and water daily.

You can also pick the pod and let it mature in a dry paper bag. Watch for the seeds or they'll fly around your house!

Vignette of color

For all you busy gardeners, here's a cute landscape combination tip:

I saw a corner of a garden near the sidewalk that looked just great, and I could tell it needed minimal maintenance. It had a tall old jade plant in the back, a false heather ground cover, and draped all over and amidst the planting was asparagus fern. It was all very pretty and lush-looking, but these are all less-thirsty plants.

"What a nice, simple planting," I remarked.Ê"Oh, it was much fancier before they worked all the time," said my walking buddy.

What's in bloom

Jade vines are putting on a great show this year. I saw some in Wahiawa last month, but March is the month for jade. My friend in Nu'uanu has over 1000 spikes of this lovely flower tendriling down from far overhead.Ê

The orange jade vines grow in her majestic kukui trees, which she says must be older than I am; they were huge when we moved in 40 years ago.

This is an old-fashioned vine that you don't see much any more. It is tricky to propagate, and unlike most tropical vines, it does not like to be pruned back. Pruning it too much can kill it, and this is undoubtedly how we've lost so many. Yard men who are used to whacking everything in sight with no ill consequences killed those old majestic jade vines.

I had one of the green jade vines, which would bloom every year for my birthday. It was propagated lovingly by my Kaua'i mentor, Hideo Teshima.

They are hard to grow from cuttings and easy to grow from seeds, if you can find them. (They set seeds infrequently in Hawai'i.)

Let's replant jade vines, starting with the Wahiawa post office! A substantial trellis resplendent with jade vines is a sight of old Hawai'i.ÊIt is also a cool and relaxing mode of living, sitting under the shade of the jade.

Lavenders and purples are bursting into bloom. Jacarandas in Nu'uanu. Nobile dendrobiums slipping out in lush abundance.

Plumeria full of white blossoms.ÊWhite calliandra or powder puff (from Brazil) is still in bloom in Nu'uanu.

Down in Chinatown, the purple bougainvillea spill over the stone-lined banks of Nu'uanu stream in purple profusion. Now this is urban landscaping!

A guy was fishing for Samoan crab big ones (he's going to eat that — yikes!) in the somewhat pilau water, which seems to only benefit the bougainvillea.