Hawaii has the most beautiful and unusual, at least to someone not from Hawaii, native plants anywhere and to be able to create a garden that is mostly native plants, if not all native plants, would be to create your own paradise. Also the other factors to take into consideration when deciding on planting a native plant garden are that they will be low maintenance, require little or no fertilizer since they are acclimated to the soil the way it is. They will attract the native birds to your garden because these are the plants they think of as home and of course it will help the environment. Convinced? Then take a look at what these native plant nurseries have to offer, go on a shopping spree and watch what beauty you can create.
Future Forests Nurseries
P.O. Box 847
Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96745
Phone: 808-325-2377
Fax: 808-325-2836
Their specialty is trees, all kinds of trees native to Hawaii. And they have quite a variety. Just look at the list and you will be amazed at the number of trees native to Hawaii and Polynesia. They also have consultation service, so you can be sure to get a tree that will grow too just the right size for your garden.
Kauai Nurseries & Landscaping, INC
http://www.kauainursery.com/
3-1550 Kaumualii Hwy.
Lihue, Hawaii. 96766
With over thirty years in the native nursery business, they have the experience necessary to guide you to one beautiful native Hawaii garden. They create some beautiful designs, just take a look at the examples on the site and imagine your garden with a similar look.
La-‘au O Hawaii: Plants of Hawaii
Botanical Gardens & Native Hawaiian Plant Tours
http://www.hinaadventures.com/ecotours/nativeplant_ecotour
If you want to get a good introduction to the native plants of Hawaii, then taking one of these tours of the native nurseries might be just the ticket for you. It would be especially beneficial to new residents of Hawaii. They will take your all over Oaho and they will even customize a tour for you. Wouldn’t this be a great idea for your garden club to consider. Then you can all work together and everyone can have a Hawaii native plant garden. They have two regular tours available, the Native Hawaiian Plants Tour. This is mostly a tour of established gardens, but you can add a visit to one of the native plant nurseries. The other one is the Native & Exotics Combo Tour. You got to visit gardens that have successfully combined the native plants of Hawaii with exotic plants from other tropical locals. You will get more ideas here than you could ever use, but it is well worth a days trip.
Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/greenwell.html
1525 Bernice Street
Honolulu, Hawai’i 96817
Phone: 808.847.3511
Fax: 808.841.8968
At the Garden, you will see over 200 species of plants that grew in the traditional farms and native forests of Kona before Captain Cook arrived in the late 18th century. There are no plants more native to Hawaii than these are. They sell both native and Polynesian introduced plants, some of which have been grown in Hawaii for so long, that they can almost, but not quite , be considered native.
