KAILUA-KONA — I first met Debbie Webster when she enrolled in the Master Gardener Program at Kona Outdoor Circle. It was 2004. She had just moved to Kona.
“I wanted an intro to gardening in Hawaii,” she explained. “And I got it.”
With light in her eyes, she describes the classes that taught her how to grow tropical plants in rocky soil and ways to prune them once they got going. Her favorite memories of those classes are the garden visits that were part of the series.
“I think I learned the most from seeing what successful Kona gardeners were doing,” she reported.
As a child, growing up in New York state, she always loved being outdoors and especially enjoyed gardens. Shortly after she married, she and her husband, Tom, moved to a little cabin in the Sierra Mountains of California. They installed a greenhouse and a veggie garden right away but after a few years they decided to move their “back to the land” experiences to an acre of land in San Diego.
It was in southern California that Debbie really acquired her garden design chops. As a member of a highly competitive local garden club, she learned how to design prize winning entries for the annual flower shows as well as ways to use the latest gardening techniques in her home garden.
About a third of her California property was dedicated to her two boys who raised lambs on it. She carved out a third for herself to put in a kitchen garden, some great tomatoes and a well-designed display of her favorite ornamentals. Using a straw and hay mulching technique she was able to grow beautiful roses and use dahlias as a design element among her flowering bedding plants.
Years later, after the kids had grown and moved on, Tom added a new challenge.
“It’s time for one more adventure,” he declared. “Let’s move to Hawaii.”
And, they did. Debbie with lots of gardening experience and Tom with construction skills, they found the transition easy, fun and adventuresome.
Shortly after landing in Kona’s Seaview Circle, they bought a lot in Puu Lani Ranch. At 2,300 feet in elevation, Debbie had to quickly learn some new skills to be able to grow in rocky soil that was high and dry.
After getting certified as a UH Hawaii Master Gardener, she found work at several local nurseries to get deeper into Hawaiian plant lore. Working with two nursery women really helped familiarize her with local plants, plant care and garden design in West Hawaii. Both Janice Palma-Glennie and Margo Lundstrom were instrumental in her plant education. Today she’s applying all she has learned to great success.
During the years the Websters were building their house, West Hawaii was experiencing a serious drought.
Water in Puu Lani Ranch is expensive, so Debbie was challenged to learn to appreciate and grow drought-tolerant species. She admits that most of her nursery salaries went to buying plants that would grow well at her new site.
TOURING HER GROUNDS
The first time I saw Debbie’s Puu Lani garden was about five years ago in the early spring. The 27 jacarandas that were on her property were in full, gorgeous bloom and I was dazzled. Not only were the trees loaded with gorgeous lavender flowers but the pathways through her garden were carpeted with the fallen blossoms. A beautiful sight.
Visiting her garden recently after this year’s jacarandas bloom, I was able to focus on the rest of the garden which was equally impressive. A beautifully shaped old China berry tree gracefully frames the front of her house, while the jacarandas provide a shady cover throughout.
The rocky outcroppings on her property are covered with plants or used as design elements to separate plants of different colors, sizes and shapes that she has installed. Right outside her side lani, a sweeping bed of bromeliads and purple heart (Setcreasea pallida) caught my eye immediately. The partly shaded area behind her house is host to numerous ferns and more bromeliads including an attractive bed of ornamental pineapples as well as one filled with the striking Aechmea fasciata bromeliad in bloom. With occasional specimen plants like orchids featured throughout, Debbie’s design sense is apparent.
She loves including fragrance as well as beauty in her garden. The white blossoms on her Brunfelsia shrub are especially fragrant at night, classifying this yesterday, today and tomorrow specimen as Lady of the Night (Brunfelsia gigantean). She was in full fragrant bloom during my late afternoon visit.
Offset by small pink flowers, the dusty green leaves of her drought tolerant Texas ranger (Leucophyllum fruitescens) offered a lovely greeting along her side driveway. Though the swan’s neck agave was not in bloom during my visit, I know they are a striking presence when their arching necks appear along her property border in spring.
She has also included some other plants with interesting leaf shapes and colors. The bright green spikes of the pencil cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli) as well as the large fuzzy leaves of the Kalanchoe beharensis add interest and eye appeal to her garden.
“Choosing the right plant for the right place is the key to gardening success,” Debbie happily declared.
Knowing the place of origin for a plant can provide clues to its favorite growing conditions. Keeping plants healthy with adequate water and nutrition helps her plants thrive. She finds regular applications of very dilute simple green keeps pest problems at bay. If, or when, she finds insect or diseases in her garden she’ll start with low-tox applications of products like safer soap and neem oil. She only resorts to chemical products when the life of her plant is severely threatened.
When I asked how she managed to keep her garden looking so alive and healthy, she responded, “I love my plants and by spending a few hours maintaining them every day, I think the love helps them thrive.”
Today, Debbie still takes occasional garden design work and is available to neighbors for gardening help whenever needed. Her garden is a living example of her artistic design sense and her skill as a gardener.
Though her husband helps her with heavy work and does a lot of the tree pruning, Debbie has created and is single-handedly maintaining a gorgeous garden that feeds her soul and that of visitors like me.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant living part time in Kailua-Kona.
Gardening Events
This week:
Saturday: “Work Day at Amy Greenwell Garden” from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at the Garden Visitor Center across from the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook. Volunteers will be able to help with garden maintenance and are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. Water and snacks provided. Call Peter at 323-3318 for more information.
Upcoming:
Friday, Sept. 27 through Saturday, Oct. 5: “Tropical Fruit Growers Conference” starts at 5 p.m. at Royal Kona Resort in Kailua-Kona. Mini conferences in Hilo and on Maui, Oahu and Molokai. Topic: Growing and Marketing Exotic Brazilian Fruit in Hawaii. Full schedule at https://hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org/29th_Annual_HTFG_Conference_Agenda.pdf. Registration and more information at https://hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers.org/pages/registration_2019.htm.
Farmer Direct Markets
Wednesday: “Hooulu Farmers Market” 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay
Saturday: “Keauhou Farmers Market” 8 a.m. to noon at Keauhou Shopping Center
“Kamuela Farmer’s Market” from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pukalani Stables
“Waimea Town Market” from 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Parker School in central Waimea
“Waimea Homestead Farmers Market” from 7 a.m. to noon next to Thelma Parker Gym in front of Thelma Parker Library.
Sunday: “Pure Kona Green Market” 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Amy Greenwell Garden in Captain Cook
“Hamakua Harvest” 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Highway 19 and Mamane Street in Honokaa
Plant Advice Lines
Anytime: konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu
Tuesdays &Thursdays: 9 a.m. to noon at UH-CES in Kainaliu – 322-4892
Mon., Tues. &Fri: 9 a.m. to noon at UH CES at Komohana in Hilo 981-5199 or himga@hawaii.edu
