HAWAI'I GARDENS
Flowering teak trees in bloom all over Islands
By Heidi Bornhorst
Q. I see a teak tree by Andrews Amphitheater on the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus at Dole Street. Could this be an economically valuable crop for us?
— Always thinking in Mo'ili'ili
A. Teak trees are all over the Islandsm. Recently, I noticed a small tree just makai of the amphitheater in bloom, with lovely cream-colored flower heads.
If you want to grow a teak tree, keep an eye on the fruit as it develops, and in a few months you could collect some seeds.
Teak does well in Hawai'i. There is a nice old tree in the Lyon species-orchid garden at Foster Botanical Garden. There is also one near the Hawaiian Humane Society.
On Kaua'i, there is a whole plantation of teak at the Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens. These are in bloom now and have garden growers Ed and Joyce Doty somewhat concerned. Their concern is that some of their trees have been stressed (because of lack of water and high wind) and haven't grown as tall as they should; they are flowering when they are still short. When they flower, the tree forks, so that is the end of straight teak trunks.
Because the owners are trying to grow lumber, they would prefer trees with straight trunks rising 30 feet before they fork.
In its natural environment, teak usually doesn't flower until it's about 7 years old, but teak in Hawai'i is flowering much younger, possibly because our climate differs from the monsoon/drought cycles of its native lands.
Flowering and fruiting can take away energy from other tree-growth processes, such as making wood. I reassured the Dotys that teak trees all over seem to be in massive flower, and said I hoped it was just a climatic response.
The Dotys and their horticulturist, Marty Fernandes, must thin some of the plantation trees. They were planted close together to encourage upward growth and to discourage branching, which causes knots in the lumber. They already are obtaining workable teak wood.
The Dotys are building a keiki "log cabin" (complete with a plastic slide) out of lumber from teak trees they thinned out to increase overall growth of the other teak trees. They have also used the thinned teak to build a planter and for making retaining walls throughout the wilder parts of the property.
Teak, Tectona grandis, is in the Lamiaceae or mint family. Related plants are: lantana, clerodendron, verbena, petrea or sandpaper vine, Vitex ovata or kolokolo kahakai, cup and saucer plant or Holmskioldia, and Citharexylum or fiddlewood (a noxious weed).
Floral masterpieces
Laurie Shimazu Ide found a perfect plant to finish off her professional flower arrangement of lovely tropicals.
"I needed something airy and light," she said. "What is this weed?"
I looked closely and it is that scourge of Hawai'i forests and spreader of wildfires: Guinea grass, native to Africa and brought in for our cattle industry.
Ide was right. It was a perfect fit for her floral masterpiece.
The Garden Club of Honolulu, led by conservation committee chairwoman Heidi Ho Conjugacion, also created masterpieces for table décor for a visiting VIP from the Garden Club of America, Fran Wolfe.
With the women of the Garden Club of Honolulu at the helm, common weeds of forest and gardens such as ficus roots, alpinia ginger red-seed heads, Christmas berries, fiddlewood, koa haole, strawberry guava leaves and other weeds and alien mosses were crafted into very handsome and attractive arrangements.
The materials were free, and it was a favor to the forest. Every weed seed that gets picked, used and then carefully disposed of is one less weed to imperil our native forests.
These arrangements were simple to make — weedy plant materials set in well-soaked oasis, set in a plastic tray and then placed in a shallow wooden calabash.
They looked quite festive and pretty. If we all used more weeds and their seeds, it would help the forest in a small way.
Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant. Submit questions to islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com or Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Letters may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.
