HAWAI'I GARDENS
Nominees needed for Crocker landscape awards
By Heidi Bornhorst
Q. Do you know of a way to have more fabulous landscapes in our Islands? Is there some way to officially recognize good landscape design and maintenance? Outstanding arboriculture and nurturing of mature trees? We really need something like this around here.
— Mahalo nui loa kakou, Maile Rosa, Maunawili
A. Yes, there is a landscape award program that sounds like what you are seeking, and now is the time to make your nomination.
The Betty Crocker landscape awards are coming up. Do you know of a fabulous landscape? It can be a home garden, business landscape or public open space such as a community garden, public park like Kapi'olani, or some other space cared for and maintained by volunteers.
Scenic Hawaii, the sponsoring nonprofit group, is seeking nominations for outstanding gardens and landscapes. This year, with the kokua of a generous donation from the Friends of Halawa Xeriscape Garden, there will also be a new award. This new, though old-fashioned, common-sense kind of award is for a xeriscape or wise-use-of-water garden.
Last year there were 13 landscape awards given out to home gardeners and landscape professional. The awards are in honor of one of the founding members of Scenic Hawaii, Betty Crocker. She was a longtime, lovingly outspoken advocate for trees, parks and protecting the natural beauty of Hawai'i.
Nominate a garden with this form:
Name of Garden of Project:
Address:
Brief description of the project:
Include a supporting letter, photos, or other material if possible.
Nominator's name, address, phone number and e-mail address if you have one:
Category: Professional or Private: Community: Xeriscape:
Mail Entries to Scenic Hawaii, P.O. Box 10501, Honolulu, HI 96816.
What's in bloom
The golden allamanda and kolomona in the cement planters, high above the freeway through town, are a pretty and cheerful sight for passing motorists. The winter rains have helped these pretty and toughly plants to flourish this year. This longtime well-planned planter is a pretty buffer for the high, canyon-like concrete walls. Who did design this great addition to the ugly freeway, I wonder, and when?
On Kaua'i at the visitors' center for the National Tropical Botanical Garden down at Spouting Horn, is a lovely garden full of blooming plants.
It serves as a good sample of some of the treasures at the National Tropical Botanical Garden. I saw the first blooming royal poinciana or Delonix regia, aka the flamboyant or flame tree, at this sheltered bowl of a south-shore garden.
A gardener with a true sense of style and horticulture had trained a golden allamanda vine up into a small spreading poinciana.
Both were in bloom, and the big gold trumpets of the allamanda were gorgeous against the gnarled, lichen-covered trunk and new red-orange blossoms of the royal poinciana.
