NATIVE LOVE

As I sat to write this, I don't think we mentioned that we got our final permit a few weeks ago. WOO-WHO! We have been busy doing the finishing details, with not a whole lot of time to write about it. Painting base boards, building cabinets, planting etc.

Back in early November we went to the Arbor Day Celebration at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens.
Arbor Day is celebrated here in Hawaii in the Fall/Winter to take advantage of planting in the wetter months. At the event, 1000 native Hawaiian plants and trees are given away and we always make the trip to town… anywhere for that matter, for a free tree. Previous years we have picked up a Koa and a Moa or Hawaiian Cotton. This year we picked up a Mountain Apple and a Manono.

The pots of free plants are marked with a heart.

One of the great things about the tree and plant give away is that all of the plants are divided by zone. there are 5 climate zones here for growing and you don't want to take a native plant that is on the endangered species list and plant it in an area that it will not survive. Some plants prefer the wet and cool side of the island where as others depend on the arid and hot side.

Our Koa tree is doing well from 2 years ago and has doubled in size, The Mao, or Hawaiian cotton in still in a large pot and doing well... it can get quite big and we have not had quite the right place for it yet. I think it's going in the ground soon though.

The Mountain Apple and Manono are still quite small, so we are leaving them potted for now in a part of the yard that is protected from the wind. We will gradually move them to windier parts of the yard in order to build up their tolerance.

We also picked up a coffee plant from the Maui Garden Club and many succulents from Rainbow Acres up in Olinda.

Stay tuned for the planting of the succulent garden.

The mountain apple to the left and the manono on the right.

Ma'o Or Hawaiian Cotton from 2008.

Our Koa tree we planted in 2007. It was about 2 feet tall back then and now proudly stands 5 feet tall.

The coffee plant and a selection of succulents.