A "coffee table" book that takes you on a photographic tour of Hawaii gardens. The book showcases tropical design in private, museum and hotel gardens with 200 full page color photos.

Hawai‘i is home to some of the rarest plants in the world, many of them now threatened by extinction. Despite a benign and nurturing climate, native species are declining almost everywhere in the Islands. Human-introduced pests, the spread of competing alien plants, wildfires, urban and agricultural development, and other disturbances of modern life are eliminating native species at an alarming pace. In fact, 38 percent of all plants on the U.S. endangered species list are native Hawaiian plants. A Native Hawaiian Garden is an effort to help stem the tide. Until recent years, few people attempted to raise native plants in their gardens, in schoolyards and parks, or around public buildings. But this situation is changing as essential information about raising native plants becomes more readily available. A Native Hawaiian Garden offers the most in-depth treatment yet on cultivating and propagating native Hawaiian plants. Following an overview of Hawaiian natural history and conservation, the book treats 63 species (many for the first time), giving detailed information on all stages of gardening: from preparing seeds for germination to the care and tending of the young plants in the landscape. Habitats where the plants are most likely to thrive are also described, as well as the uses that native Hawaiians made of the plants. Over 90 color photographs enhance the book. A Native Hawaiian Garden has much to offer professional horticulturists, landscapers, and botanists, and gives reason to hope that more spaces around housing developments, shopping malls, and other commercial buildings will soon include native plants. But the book will prove especially valuable to those gardeners who wish to grow and nurture something truly Hawaiian in their own backyards. Among the many rewards of growing natives, the authors make clear, is the opportunity to contribute your own experiences and findings to a vital preservation effort.

Almost everyone loves a lei--the making, giving, receiving, and wearing of the lei is a cherished Hawai'i tradition recognized worldwide. With the renaissance in Hawaiian culture sweeping the islands, growing plants that provide lei materials can be a source of pride and pleasure for the home gardener, an economic opportunity for green-thumb entrepreneurs, and can reduce gathering pressure on the few precious remaining areas of native Hawaiian vegetation. This book contains information on growing 85 plants that can provide flowers or foliage for lei. Some are traditionally used native species; others are relatively new introductions with a potential place in the lei industry. In addition to the 170 pages detailing the plants, sections of the book provide useful basic plant production information and helpful tips for anyone wishing to get into the lei material business in a small or large way. In a special section written for this book, two experts on Hawaiian tradition and native Hawaiian plants explain the spiritual and cultural significance of the lei and lei making in ancient Hawai'i. These authors highlight the ancient Hawaiian conservation ethic and concept of sustainable agriculture, a revival of which could help preserve the islands' threatened native ecosystems. This book is a must-have for anyone wanting to help preserve Hawai'i's plant and cultural heritage!

Both ornamental and food plants common to gardens in Hawaii are included in this easy-to-us book. You will find concise information about propagation, culture and pest control, as well as a description of the plant and its origins. Many gardeners in Hawaii are familiar with the name Fortunato Teho. The late Mr. Teho's gardening column was avidly read by plant lovers throughout Hawaii. The text has been updated to include new information on disease and pest control and plant culture.

Your garden is your first and best opportunity to create positive energy for your home. FENG SHUI FOR HAWAII GARDENS is the complete guide to landscaping your garden from use of natural features on your property to the plants you select and where you locate them. Here are simple, easy-to-implement solutions to invite good energy into your home, balance your home in its surroundings and protect it from harsh or threatening energies.

A guide to growing tasty and healthy fruits, herbs, nuts, and seeds in Hawai'i. Includes recipes.

Like so many of us, Lucinda Fleeson wanted to escape what had become a routine life. So, she quit her big-city job, sold her suburban house, and moved halfway across the world to the island of Kauai to work at the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Imagine a one-hundred-acre garden estate nestled amid ocean cliffs, rain forests, and secluded coves. Exotic and beautiful, yes, but as Fleeson awakens to this sensual world, exploring the island's food, beaches, and history, she encounters an endangered paradise—the Hawaii we don't see in the tourist brochures. Native plants are dying at an astonishing rate—Hawaii is called the Extinction Capital of the World—and invasive species (plants, animals, and humans) have imperiled this Garden of Eden. Fleeson accompanies a plant hunter into the rain forest to find the last of a dying species, descends into limestone caves with a paleontologist who deconstructs island history through fossil life, and shadows a botanical pioneer who propagates rare seeds, hoping to reclaim the landscape. Her grown-up adventure is a reminder of the value of choosing passion over security, individuality over convention, and the pressing need to protect the earth. And as she witnesses the island's plant renewal efforts, she sees her own life blossom again.

(This is the shorter 124 page "Home/Family Edition" which excludes lesson plans). This book provides families, teachers and community members with the basic tools and inspiration to connect children with nature and show them how to grow, prepare and eat healthy foods. Readers will find step-by-step lesson plans/curricula, hundreds of activity ideas, plant guides and nutritionist-approved, Hawai'i-based recipes. The book is divided into two main sections: Meet the Plants and Recipes. The Meet the Plants section is used to teach keiki about specific fruits, vegetables and herbs (includes 19 plants or plant families). Each page features a specific plant or plant family with a labeled photograph. These pages will increase readers knowledge about plants and give you ideas about how to use them in the classroom, kitchen and garden. The book includes 37 "'Ai Pono Recipes". These recipes are for adults to make with children, or children to make on their own. Make these recipes for taste tests, classroom/home cooking, snacks and meals. They are all nourishing foods that feature Hawai'i grown and raised ingredients. The book encourages adults to engage children in the entire cooking process: learning about the ingredients, gardening, harvesting, washing, cooking, eating and cleaning. These recipes are designed to keep children, families and teachers healthy, so readers are encouraged to make and eat these recipes often. This book is beautiful and features real foods and plants from Hawai'i.

"Native Hawaiian plants make up a unique flora because of the extreme isolation of the Hawaiian Islands. When the Polynesian settlers arrived, they encountered many plants that they did not know before. Over the course of generations, the Hawaiian people learned how to use the native flora to meet their needs. Along with the crops that the settlers introduced from the South Pacific, native plants became the basis for Hawaiian society and economy. In addition to describing the plants and their habitats, this guide relates the significance that native and Polynesian-introduced plants had to traditional Hawaiian culture, and tells how these plants are still used today." --Back cover.