According to the latest edition of the Sunset Western Garden Book (which puts areas above 2000 feet in Zone H1 and places nearer sea level in H2), Japanese Maple can be grown in the higher areas of H1.

High-elevation sites are home to specimens or plantations of Coast Redwood, Western Red Cedar, Douglas-fir, and numerous pines.

Southern Magnolia has been successful in Honolulu.

-Tony

My mom lives on the Big Island and in the past Ive ordered roses for her through Edmunds & Michael's Roses. Both of these mail order companies are on the west coast and are familiar when it comes to shipping of bare roots to the islands. My mom as over 30 varieties over the past few years and have very well. Other types of plants that my mom has are jades, impatients, and ferns (fish tail, fox tail, boston varieties).

I hope that helps. Im also a transplant from Hawaii and wish I could move back home too.

Mae

I had a camelea in my front yard when I lived in Kaneohe and a blue Hisbicus syracusis (rose of sharon)in the back yard. Neighbors thought they were very special. I also saw azaleas in Kaneohe. Italian cypress is common around Honolulu and Vinyard street is called that because there once was a grape vinyard there. Oleander is common in Honolulu too, but is orinally from the Mediteranian area and is everywhere in California.
Most annuals will do well for a season since they are mostly tropical in origin anyway( marigolds, zinnias, snapdragons, cosmos, ect.) but I noticed most gardeners in Hawaii can not be bothered with anything that dies in a year and plant only perminent plants like trees, shrub and vines.
Also I read an article about a woman who grows delphiniums and peonies in the uplands on Maui. Not sure how she does it though. I quess a lot of plants that like a cold spell could be dug up and put in the frig. the way Californians do tulips. It is just like digging up cannas, dahlias and caladium roots to protect them from frost on the mainland, but in reverse. You just need a big frig. LOL
With Hawaii's varied topography it should be posible to grow a lot of temperate climate plants, but why bother when there are so many beautiful tropicals and natives?

good question. it's probably the same reason that i'm growing a tropical waterlily, a pomegranate, jasmine, and a strawberry guava here in NYC. it's a challenge - plus, having something close that you've fallen in love with is so gratifying.

:)
heidi

I moved to Kauai from Wisconsin about 1 1/2 years ago. I've planted coleus, gardenias, and chrysanthemums. Nasturtiums also do well, but I haven't planted any. All are doing well, but 2 of the coleus have been infected with nematodes. I'm investigating treatments.

Amy

I recently purchased an apple tree from a nursery in waimanalo. it had one apple but fell down. it later had lots of flowers but i don't see any apples!

I'm trying right now to grow a clematis vine and also a wisteria vine. will post my success, if any, if i am ever successful. Alvin, the nurseryman, said he flowered a clematis before, and showed me buds of the wisteria vine. Does anywone have suggestions for me?

I must have tried like 20 Japanese maples before I finally realized there is no chance, our garden is located in the more low-lands of O'ahu (the land on which our house sits on now was once used for the cultivation of sugar cane. No salt spray lots of red dirt). I am

currently growing; Sequoiadendron giganteum, Ginkgo biloba, Pinus elliottii.

many mainland plants seem to do quite well here. Deciduous trees and shrubs usually have a problem.

Aloha
Matt G.

The "Florida Prince" variety of peach tree sets fruit, but my tree is still so small that the chickens jump up and eat all the fruit - usually the day before I want to pick it. It does go completely dormant and looks dead for about a month during the winter, so don't take it out while it is "dead". ( I almost did! )

One of my neighbors in the next camp over has a red apple tree that fruits every year. He doesn't know what type it is, but he gave me a seedling so in several years, we will know if it breeds true or not.

I had several horseradish plants in a pot that just languished and did nothing for a year. I wanted to put something else in the pot and stuck the horseradish in the ground where it is now doing well.

The asparagus is growing well, but it doesn't seem to want to make spears at the same time. If you want to eat one or two spears a week, then plant asparagus. I suppose I could freeze the spears, but now I just use the asparagus greens in my cut flower arrangements.

Roses love it here, but the beetles eat the leaves terribly. I put Sevin dust in a shaker can and dust the roses whenever there's more holes than leaves. Same with the grapes.

Iris (flags) don't seem to do well at all. I've tried wisteria and clemantis, but haven't gotten any to survive long enough to find out where they want to grow.

Nasturiums thriving and reseeding all over the place. Green beans grow well but will die off after one "season" of harvest. Lima beans will last for several years of harvest. Indeterminate small fruited tomatoes (cherry, Roma, etc.) do real well and last for several seasons. Collard greens grow exceptionally well and will last for several years. Also other assorted greens do well. Sometimes the small green caterpillars attack the leaves, but the plant will usually survive.

i just read that morels and oyster mushrooms will grow in hawaii! and thanks for your great advice, that's especially neat about the peach.
cool!
heidi

Aloha Heidi,

My neighbor, Ellesia, just got a job working at a mushroom farm in Ahualoa. I haven't heard many details yet, but she says it is a real interesting job. They grow the fancy shiitake mushrooms, among other varieties. I'm hoping to get some mushroom compost, I've heard that's great for gardens.

Just visiting the forum - Oregonian here.

Read about an apple tree on a posted reply...

If its like anything we have in Oregon and Washington, those are grown commercially here mainly toward the east, where the winter temperatures consistently dip into the 20s and the weather is drier.

Apple trees also do relatively well in the western part of the state for home gardens, but need more care for fungus control due to the moisture abundance in fall to spring. Winter temps occasionally dip to the 20s in Portland or Seattle, and frequently into the 30s.

Apple may grow in the coldest part of your state if you can get over 20 to 30 days total of below 40 degree weather.

Another variety for a pollinator is a big plus.

Maleko-
BAD question. Are you KIDDING? We should all just grow plants that are from our area? I have to tear out my royal palms, plumerias, King palms, cannas, white birch etc? What is the whole point, the joy of gardening, planting things from other areas.
I know what you're thinking- Hawaii=plumerias, coconut palms pineapple, floss silk trees, macadamia, papaya, mango, etc....guess what, none are native to Hawaii. I don't understand why tropicals would be superior than temperate plants. I live in zone 11/24 which is Dry-Summer Subtropical (mediterranean) and we enjoy trying to grow plants from cold areas too. We can't grow goldenrod, lilacs, decent apples pears or any stone fruit, tulips which we'd like to. We can't grow peonies either, and I'm grateful for that! :)
-Donn Redondo Beach, California

aw, don't be so harsh...i'm sure that the point was that there are pretty natives, too.

i'm sad about not being able to grow peonies in hawaii...i LOVE them!
:)
heidi

The typed words make things sound and/or feel different, i wasn't harsh, I was smiling when I wrote it...see> :) I can certainly understand. Sorry Deuse and Milako. The Sacramento Valley is Beautiful, and I don't care about the New Yorker jokes, New Jersey is HEAVENLY beautiful! I have relatives in Phillipsburg.
Go Kings!
Donn- Redondo Beach

apples,pears,peaches,blueberries pears,artichoke,
(asparigus didnt do so hot for me)
proteas do outragiously well here.
roses,carnations.
grew brussell sprouts once ..that was a neat plant

certain plants at lower altitudes tend to get munched more by our reeealy healthy bugs haha
ps.. most plants here are "mainland plants"lol

One of the problems growing "mainland" plants, is that one never knows when they can escape and become an invasive pest. Ageratum is one brought in years ago that is now a pesky weed,impatiens is a weed, but lovely, horseradish IS extremely happy here and can become VERY invasive. I tried artichokes, but we aren't high enough and the fungus got them. There are some rose plants sold at the open market but I have no interest struggling with roses when there are such drop dead beautiful plants here that grow with so little effort!

There are so many mini-climates here...you can find just the one to suit your taste, from growing Calla Lillies, Hydrangeas and Camelias in Volcano to the more tropical plants further down the mountain.

There is always a little bit of heaven for everyone.

I have not visited this forum for a long time and had not read the folow-ups to my post. LOL, I quess my point was, that there are so many beautiful tropicals that would grow in Hawaii without the extra care needed for "temperate climate" plants that I just could not understand why anyone would go to the trouble. But live in CA where I am surrounded by temperate climate plants and spend all of my energy growing tropicals. If I was in the tropics, I would problably grow nostalgic about temperate plants too. I guess there is something about gardeners that like the challenge of growing something that the next door neighbor doesn't have. Temperate climate plants fill that bill in Hawaii and tropicals fill that bill in temperate CA. ( although they are becomming more and more common, you go to Home Depot in Sacramento and you would think you were at the Star Market Nursery in Kaneohe these days)