Blue ginger — its flowers a vibrant navy — is a nice addition to Hawai'i's gardens. In cool mauka areas, the plant does well in full sun. If your garden is makai, near the beach, blue ginger thrives in shade and rich soil.

This plant came to Hawai'i not long ago. According to my grandma/garden mentor, the late May Moir, Dr. Joseph Rock brought six blue ginger seeds to the Islands. He bartered and traded them with other plant enthusiasts. Moir got one or two of them. Harold Lyon of Foster Botanical Garden got one or two, and Rock grew the rest.

Today, we grow it faster by using stems, stalks and root divisions. Blue ginger is easy to grow and to multiply into a thick patch in your garden if you like.

At the Hale Koa Hotel, we subtly employ a red-white-and-blue theme into the design and maintenance of the landscaping.

The patriotic plantings are fun yet challenging at this military resort, which with its large green space in Waikiki is also popular with folks for reunions, weddings, graduations and other celebrations.

The blue ginger's flowers are one of the few that can represent the blue of our flag. White and red flowering plants are much easier to come by and to grow in our Hawai'i gardens.

Ask any gardener or landscape designer or architect and they will agree: blue is one of the hardest colors to come by in the tropical plant world.

Blue ginger is not actually a ginger — but it sure behaves like one. True gingers are in the Zingiberaceae family; blue "ginger" is in the Commelinaceae family, along with spiderworts and wandering jew. Scientists call it Dichorisandra thyrsiflora. It hails from southeastern Brazil.

You can use it as a cut flower for a special occasion, but it does not last long in a vase. It is best admired in the garden. If you do want it for the decor of a special event, cut the flowering stalks and "butterfly" the leaves. Soak the stalks in deep water, and keep them in a cool, shady place on the morning of the event. When you are ready to create the vibrantly blue flower arrangement, re-cut the stems and immediately put them in water in the decorative vase. With all that TLC, they will be showy for the event but will only last for a day or two, or maybe a week, after that.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable-landscape consultant. Submit questions at 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.