Treat your nose to fragrant flora at garden's spring sale

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 21, 2012

~~<p>Do you love gardenias? May is the month when they bloom most profusely here in our Hawaii gardens. How about pakalana, pikake, Chinese banana magnolia, fragrant orchids like honohono and Shari baby (which smells like chocolate!), ginger, plumeria, pak lan, mei sui lan or kwai fah? The list goes on.</p>
<p>A "new" gardenia will be offered at the spring Foster Botanical Garden plant sale. It's actually an old Chinese cultivar rediscovered by my friend and fellow fragrant-plant nut Erin Lee on Hawaii island. We call it the "Chinese grandmother's gardenia," or "pake tutu kiele." It has a single set of petals like a tiare or our Native Hawaiian gardenia, the nau. It blooms white but turns to yellow and then gold in the span of a few days. It has a fabulous fragrance and is pretty pest-resistant.</p>
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<h4>SPRING PLANT SALE</h4>
» <strong>Where:</strong> Foster Botanical Garden, 50 N. Vineyard Blvd.<br />
» <strong>When:</strong> 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday<br />
» <strong>Call:</strong> 522-7066</td>
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Do you love gardenias? May is the month when they bloom most profusely here in our Hawaii gardens. How about pakalana, pikake, Chinese banana magnolia, fragrant orchids like honohono and Shari baby (which smells like chocolate!), ginger, plumeria, pak lan, mei sui lan or kwai fah? The list goes on.

A "new" gardenia will be offered at the spring Foster Botanical Garden plant sale. It's actually an old Chinese cultivar rediscovered by my friend and fellow fragrant-plant nut Erin Lee on Hawaii island. We call it the "Chinese grandmother's gardenia," or "pake tutu kiele." It has a single set of petals like a tiare or our Native Hawaiian gardenia, the nau. It blooms white but turns to yellow and then gold in the span of a few days. It has a fabulous fragrance and is pretty pest-resistant. SPRING PLANT SALE » Where: Foster Botanical Garden, 50 N. Vineyard Blvd. » When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday » Call: 522-7066 Login for more...