We don't see this wonderful vine around here much today. Perhaps this is due to lots of over-vigorous, power-driven yard "maintenance."

The best green jade plants are grown from seed. Seed-grown plants will have the strongest and most vigorous root system. However, jade doesn't always set seed in Hawai'i, so we usually try to root it from cuttings. It is not easy to root and requires expertise in propagation.

Try to find a plant at your garden shop or at a plant sale by a botanical garden. Waimea Arboretum's David Orr had some seed-grown ones at a benefit plant sale a few years back, and akamai gardeners scooped them right up.

What's in bloom

Plumerias or pua melia still have that "naked antler" look, but now some of the earlier-blooming cultivars are full of buds and flowers. I really like plumerias at this time of year, when the flowers are boldly displayed on the stubby, leafless branches. Their spots of color perk up dark and dreary rainy days.

Of course, some plumerias never really stopped blooming or bearing leaves despite the odd weather pattern of the past couple of years. I sometimes feel like a broken record, but plants in Hawai'i gardens are blooming earlier in spring.

There are numerous species of coral trees or erythrina that grow in Hawai'i gardens. The red-flowered Erythrina variegata are in bloom in parks, along streets and at schools all over the Islands. These are not native to Hawai'i and should not be called wiliwili.

Better names for this pretty introduced tree are tiger claw or coral tree. Erythrina works, too, and is not that hard to say.

The red E. variegata, which blooms for a short time in spring, is commonly planted in Hawai'i. There also is a white-flowered form of this species. See them at Kualoa Regional Park, Ala Moana Beach Park and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa or around the Capitol.

One of the nicest introduced species for landscaping is E. crista-galli, which is a native of the Amazon Basin. These flowers are often mistaken for red jade, to which the species is related, both being in the Fabaceae family.

Our native Hawaiian wiliwili is E. sandwicensis. It is a dryland forest tree and usually blooms in summer, and has a range of pastel flower colors (orange, apricot chartreuse, etc.); the seeds are bright red or orange. We should grow more of our native wiliwili in our Hawai'i gardens.