The political roots of the first day of May, link it to the efforts of the labor movement for workers rights. May Day began, however, with Earth-centered pagan celebrations of the spring season. Roman festivals honored the flower goddess Flora, and other traditional celebrations included maypole dancing and the crowing of the Queen of May.
Since 1927, when two writers from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, put forth the idea of celebrating May Day as Lei Day, Hawaii residents have commemorated the day by wearing lei and honoring Hawaiian culture; celebrating the day with flowers and love. Without ignoring the political roots of May Day, we can claim it as a time to decorate ourselves with the blossoms of spring.
The current interest in growing plants that are useful, as well as beautiful, might lead us to consider planting flowering plants for lei that also have uses beyond their beautiful flowers.
Of course, the native green ti can always serve as a lei plant. Numerous lei designs incorporate ti or use it solo. Ti leaves can also be used to serve food or as a wrap for your forehead to relieve a headache.
Another multipurpose native plant is the lovely ilima. The flowers from the prostrate ilima papa, as well as the shrub variety, make lovely lei. Many flowers are needed for a lei so install a few plants. They will begin flowering early in life and continue producing their bright yellow blossoms year-round. Beyond their use for making lei, ilima flowers can be used as a mild laxative for babies or as a colorful and edible addition to salads or as decoration for any dish.
Many modern lei are created using non-native species. Plants like roses were quickly adopted as lei plants and several qualify as edible or multiuse specimens. Fragrance is definitely a consideration in designing a lei and selecting a rose with a powerful scent can add olfactory pleasure to Lei Day.
Carnations also grow well here, as do many others in the Dianthus genus. These plants vary widely in their scent. Most have a sweet or spicy fragrance. Their lovely serrated petals can add visual interest, as well as a soft scent, to a lei. Some of these plants, as well as some rose varieties, can also be eaten. They make a lovely top note for any dish and add a hint of spice to salads.
Creative flower workers can also make remarkable and lovely lei from other multipurpose introduced plants. The tough blossoms of the chrysanthemum and marigold are not often thought of as lei flowers but can actually be crafted into distinctly original lei. Their lei are prized in south Asian cultures like India.
These plants definitely have multiple uses. Chrysanthemum tea is well-known for its many healing properties. The flowers and leaves of the Shungiku variety are edible and tasty. Marigolds are often used to deter insects in a garden and may serve a similar purpose as a lei. They can also add a spicy and colorful topping to salads or decorative confetti to a cake or savory pie.
Consider growing other edibles that can also make interesting additions to a lei. The common pansy and other members of the violet family grow well here, are a fun addition to a garden and can double as lei flowers, as well as part of a salad. Many Salvia species have brightly colored flowers and leaves with medicinal, culinary and decorative qualities, making them a great addition to a garden and a strikingly colorful accent to a lei. The scarlet, blue and pineapple sages all produce small tubular flowers that add color and flavor wherever and however they are used.
As with all plants that purport edible parts, personal research and small dose experimentation is highly recommended before freely consuming the plant. Check the Internet, books on edible plants or knowledgeable nursery workers before buying, growing and consuming any unfamiliar plant.
Several excellent books on growing lei plants in Hawaii and creating interesting lei from them are available in local bookstores, including “Hawaiian Lei Making” by Laurie Shimizu Ide and Marie McDonald’s “Ka Lei: The Leis of Hawaii.” A University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources publication, “Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei,” is an excellent publication that can be ordered online from UH.
Tropical
gardening helpline
Eugene asks: Some caterpillars are eating up the plants in my edible garden. One is green and fat on my tomato plants; the other is orange with black spikes on my lilikoi leaves. What are they and how do I get rid of them?
Answer: Sounds like you have the tomato hornworm and the caterpillar of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly feasting in your garden.
The tomato hornworm is the larvae that hatches from eggs laid by the moth Manduca quinquemaculata. In its larval stage, it is a voracious eater of leaves and fruit of Solanaceae family plants, including tomato, eggplant, peppers and potatoes. Once you notice the caterpillars, they are usually nearly full grown, large and fat and about 4 inches long. They are about the same color green as the leaves of the host plant but are distinguished by white stripes on their body and a horn sticking out from their rear.
The caterpillar of the Gulf fritillary butterfly is a bit smaller but its distinct color makes it easier to spot, even when small. The butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, is attractive but her caterpillars are not.
Hand picking the critters from your plants and destroying them may be the best way to deal with them. If you want to get them before they wreak havoc in your garden, you may want to spray your host plants when they are small with a product containing bacillus thuringiensis, or BT. It is a soil-dwelling bacterium commonly used as a biological pesticide against caterpillars.
BT is applied to the plant, the caterpillar eats it along with the leaves and a few days later, it dies from the affect of the bacteria on its gut. BT is affective against most caterpillars.
Email plant questions to konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu for answers by certified master gardeners. Some questions will be chosen for inclusion in this column.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant with an organic farm in Captain Cook.