Love it Hulagurl! "Taro, and coconut palms are Hawai'ian because they were introduced and used by the Hawai'ian people." Using that as a qualifier, wouldn't any plant introduced and used by a Hawaiian today be considered "Hawaiian" as well? I understand the need to protect Hawaii's endangered plants. But I think the term "Hawaiian plants" should be used for the plants that were in Hawaii prior to any people coming in and bringing plants from their home to grow in Hawaii's soil. Those are "Canoe plants" such as sugar cane, Kukui, Noni, 'Olena, 'Ulu, 'Awa, Hau, and Kalo. Taro is from Asia/Malaysia and has been historically been used as a source of food in Egypt, the Mediterranean, Africa, Polynesia, and many other places. Although ancient Hawaiians grew Colocasia and it figured into their creation myth it is not a "Hawaiian" plant any more than the apple of Christian creation myth is a "Christian" fruit. A Hawaiian plant is a plant that existed in Hawaii long before humans arrived. Plants came to Hawai'i by three methods: Wind, Water (Ocean) and Wings (Birds). The plants that arrived to Hawaii from somewhere else and grow elsewhere in the world are indigenous, like Coconut Palms. Historically Hawaiians did not consider it a primary food source like other Polynesians but the actual tree; fibers, trunk, leaves etc. were considered very important and sacred. The plants that arrived to Hawaii from somewhere else and adapted; becoming something entirely unique to their new home are considered endemic. Koa (Acacia koa) and Ma'o Hau Hele (Hibiscus brackenridgei) are two examples. There are many Acacia trees related to Koa but the trees that are found on the islands are unique, and some are even unique to only one island, like Acacia koa var. waianacensis which only grows on Oahu. The interesting thing about Koa trees is there is another very similar tree, Mascarene acacia (A. heterophylla) which is endemic to Reunion island and Mauritius island. Originally they thought Acacia Koa and Mascarene acacia were the same. Basically, the acacia has been able to spread to remote places and completely adapt to its new environment to the point of changing into a new species. Evolution (or "adaptive radiation") is amazing. The Hawaiian palm Loulu (Pritchardia genus)are rapidly becoming extinct. The Pritchardia schattaueri only has a dozen or so left in the wild. The Brighamia insignis, or Hawaiian Palm, is also very endangered. It's very easy to grow, however, and with proper stewardship should come back easily. Hawaii is an amazing land, with more than 763 species of invertebrates; of which 748 are endemic. The Hawaiian Honeycreeper evolved from a single N. America Finch ancestor and they developed different bills for a variety of new environments found in Hawaii such as seed cracking, nectar sipping and even a wood-pecker-esque bill. About 90% of Hawaii's plant and animal life are found nowhere else on the world but thousands have become extinct since people first inhabited the islands 1500 years ago. There were many birds and plants that the settlers who became known as Hawaiians drove to extinction long before it was recognized as a mega-diversity hotspot. Hawaii has more endangered and threatened species than any other state in the US. The Hawaiian crow, monk seal, and nene are endangered and threatened animals and the silversword, and 'oha wai are just a few of the 263 endangered and threatened plants. So, in my opinion, the plants that are Hawaiian are those that are endemic to Hawaii rather than those that were used by ancient Hawaiians. Like Cyanea said, it's important to know the difference and to be careful what is introduced to Hawaii because it can unintentionally crowd out Hawaii's unique plants and animals. The fact that Hawaii has unique species is pretty neat, and devoting a section of your property to perpetuating these plants is good stewardship of the aina. Or, if you don't have the space, time, or inclination the next best thing is to avoid planting invasive species like the Brazilian peppertree, Japanese Honeysuckle, strawberry guava and remove them from your property if discovered. Nothing wrong with lettuce, tomatoes, etc. The people who migrated from Africa and Asia, eventually becoming known as Polynesians and finally who settled Hawaii brought pigs and plants with them just as settlers from Europe in later years. Some of these were a really bad idea. Some of them worked out fine. The chickens on Kauai are a good example. Hawaiians brought Moa (wild fowl) with them and they later bred with common chickens. The wild chickens on Kauai are ancestors of these birds. Annoying? Sure, they can be. But better to have these chickens than the mongoose on the Big Island. Lettuce isn't going to go rampant if you let a head go to seed. Here's a list of Hawaii's Most Invasive Horticultural Plants. I'm sure you will recognize many of these growing on the side of the road and nurtured in the gardens of your friends and family. Autograph trees, ginger, mock orange, butterfly bushes are all beautiful but are so prolific they crowd out other plants. Look up Miconia for an example of what can happen when an invasive pest is introduced. All of the above is, of course, just my .02 As for the original topic, you know you're a local/Hawaiian gardener at heart when you've been gone from the islands for a few years and seek out Okinawa sweet potatoes and lemon grass in the Asian markets so you can transplant in your garden, you drive up to people's houses where the loquat and guava are rotting and ask if you can pick in return for some guava jelly later on, you collect pineapple tops from the neighbors and plant them anywhere you can find room, you find Popolo growing in someone's yard just as they're about to dig it up and throw it away and ask if you can keep it- then transplant it lovingly in a place of honor, you grow stephanotis and rosebuds and pick bougenvilla from the side of the road to make leis for all your friends, you try to grow ti and cry when it dies from the frost every year, you don't mind pulling weeds when you go over to someone's house and if people aren't careful you'll be unconsciously pulling weeds from their yard while talking to them (considered bad manners on the mainland),you go out to your yard and start yanking all the brown stuff in the winter before realizing the seasons on the mainland make stuff brown, but that doesn't mean it's dead, your Mexican neighbors have a metal o'o bar (but call it something else) and think it's strange that you're excited and want to borrow it, you find honohono grass growing in the side yard and despite years of being made by your dad to pull the darned thing from acres of land you water it because the blue flowers are pretty and it reminds you of home (plus the buggah only grows a couple feet a year so it's easy to manage), you have a strong dislike of bird of paradise but secretly go over and trim up the neighbor's bushes to make it look less scraggly cause, really, it is a pretty plant, your neighbors see you gardening in your "shower shoes" and pareu and think you're underdressed...

Frugal has at times been a necessity here, but most of what I have done have been mentioned already. 1. Composting, whether spending matter or not, nothing is better than real good compost, and it is rarely if ever for sale. 2. Taking cuttings and suckers from roses. At times these have been my best and most interesting varieties; New Dawn, Alba Maxima, Charles de Mills, Comte de Chambord, Jacques Cartier, Great Western. Some varieties are even better ownroot. 3. Buying seeds from Ebay and places on the web. Sometimes a good offer for lots of Sweet Peas and seeds you need a lot of turn up. Buying seeds have made me able to have loads of pansies, violets, snapdragons, lobelia, alyssum. 4. Rainwater barrel in summer, we used to have a large one on the corner of the house, it was great to have in periods when the government ordered water saving. 5. The cheapest organic fertilizer here is pelleted chicken manure, I have used in on the lawn, for summer flowers with great success, but only ever so little on the roses. 6, Taking advantage of the good offers that present themselves in spring and early summer. They are often well worth it. 7, Remembering to fertilize spring bulbs as soon as the pop up in spring, they reliably bloom the next year, and sometimes multiply. Daffodils, crocuses, snow drops and some tulips respond very well to fertilizing. They will return for decades and decades then. 8. Years a go there was an area outside the garden that had really bad soil, if it even could be called that, nothing would grow there. I sowed a blend of greenmanure seeds and let it grow there for a few years. I think it was flax, red clover, white clover, grass, buck wheat, yellow and blue lupines. 9. I still pick nettles, yarrow and comfrey and make a sort of compost tea some times. It stinks, but its organic, free and plants respond to it like any fancy brand fertilizer. Using free manure where I could get it, horse mostly but cow and sheep at times too. Later I have read a lot of famous rose gardens does the same. At the cottage we collect seaweed, every spring we clean the tiny bay area where we have our boat. It is composted or used straight in the soil. Great soil improver. Taking advantage of tidy-up sales at the end of the autumn, here we often get the sacks of organic fertilizer at half price when christmas decorations start taking over the garden centers.

Thank you so much Carol Ann. I like it when you defend me. It is odd that every opinion is not of value. FoxesEarth has broken all the links to her sites. She has left GW. The loss is ours. She is a kind person, would help anyone, and is a wellspring of knowledge. Nell was a Hospice nurse for years. She doesn't judge people. She had reasons for not wanting that thread moved all over GW. It didn't start at Cottage Garden forum. And I came from the same place as Carol Ann, I think. I don't like to see people jumping on my friends. Janie

In a town with lots of old houses people know who you are not by your last name but by which old house you live in. Setting mouse traps, wrapping windows in plastic and digging out draft stoppers are part of the "normal fall routine". Quilts, wool blankets and curtain rods of various sizes and shapes and condition have been hung over least used hallways,doors,windows. Down comforters are on all the beds not because they are fashionable but because they are required to keep the chill out at night. The idea of a heated toilet seat now makes sense to you. You gladly share your bed with the cats and dogs you have. That extra body heat comes in handy on those cold nights. The phrase "making do" takes on a whole new meaning when you are going thru a major project and either the bathroom is shut down or the kitchen. Hopefully not both at the same time. You know more about the house's history and PO's than you do your own family tree. You treasure every little tidbit of information you find on the house. Be it a pic, a mention in a book or just someone you know who knows someone who played in the house when they were a kid.