The Hawaiian Garden — our final puzzle piece of the Kōkua Learning Farm is complete! Check out the before and after photo above from May 2024 to today! The Hawaiian Garden was designed through a group charette process in May 2023. Participants included experts from Hui Kū Maoli Ola, Mālama Pupukea Waimea, Mālama Loko Ea Foundation, Waimea Valley, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education, Mānoa Heritage Center, and Wolf Landscape Architects. Its unique shape of a kalo leaf holds six different zones to educate students and community members about native plants and their adaptations to Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems as well as their cultural uses. Continue reading to learn more about the six different zones each representing a special theme below!
The six zones each represent a theme. The Coastal Garden holds plants including ʻilima and ʻōhai, the Dryland Garden nurtures dryland plants like wiliwili and ʻukiʻuki, and the Kumulipo Garden features plants included in the Kumulipo chant. The Endangered Species Garden holds very rare plants such as naupaka papa and ʻohai, while the Laʻau Lapaʻau Garden has medicinal plants such as ʻawa, moa, and koʻokoʻolau. Lastly we have the Canoe Crop Garden with Polynesian introduced plants such as ʻulu and different varieties of kalo.
We are so grateful to work with amazing partners and each one of our volunteers who have helped care for this space. A special mahalo to Rick Barboza and his team at Hui Kū Maoli Ola for designing the meandering pathways and thoughtfully choosing Native Hawaiian plants for each space. We are honored to care for very rare species in the PEPP (Plant Extinction Prevention Program) including a very rare hibiscus, like the abutilon or ʻred ʻilima and an extremely rare variety of naupaka called naupaka papa. Special mahalo to Mike Denis of Waimea Valley for his guidance and plant propagation of the native plants we planted in the Coastal Garden and the North Shore Outdoor Circle who has adopted the Hawaiian Garden by visiting monthly to help us care for this special collection of plants.