Gold trees and relatives can make splendid, colorful lei

QUESTION: What is the name of that splendid tree with gold blossoms on top and flowers on the lawn below? Why don’t we make lei or flower arrangements with those? They are so elegant! And that color!

— Roy Vierra, Kaneohe

ANSWER: Those are gold trees and their relatives, golden trumpet trees, silver trumpet trees, golden pom poms and purple trumpet trees. The combo weather we’ve been having — dry, then wet, calm, then windy from all different directions (trades, Kona, weird easterlies, superstrong southerlies) — seems to have triggered a stress response that is making them bloom so beautifully this year.

Interesting question about lei making. I never thought of that because the flowers are fragile and ephemeral, but then all fresh flower lei are, to some extent. (Think ilima! Our flower of Oahu is superfragile and delicate, and the lei so prized.) Gold tree blossoms would make a marvelous lei; someone should try it.

You could also pick the flower clusters, submerge in water and see how long they last in a flower arrangement. The new buds would keep blooming for a few days and even a week, I think.

Who wants to take the lei-making/flower-arranging challenge and report back?

QUESTION: What are the big orange ones? Also a magnificent flowering tree?

— Roy’s friend

ANSWER: Those are African tulip trees. Many adorn Pali Highway as you head out of Kailua, down toward Maunawili.

All of these trees are related. They are in the Bignoniaceae plant family, aka the trumpet flower family. Gold trees are difficult to get started; they grow slowly and need TLC in the first few years. Over 1,000 were distributed and planted by former Hawaii first lady Jean Ariyoshi, but many of them did not survive.

The gold trees are called Tabebuia donnell-smithii by plant scientists. My favorite is Tabebuia chrysantha, the golden trumpet tree. They look like pompoms for a golden cheerleader. Many epic ones grow along the freeway, and there are many around Kaimuki. Jacarandas, with their lavender flowers, are another relative. They do better in higher elevations in Hawaii and are an artist favorite in Upcountry Maui.

Once established they are tough and xeric, or less thirsty, trees. Magnificent and, in fact, “exceptional” ones grow in Foster Botanical Garden. Look for the gold labels officially designating the two trees as “exceptional trees.” Foster garden also has an excellent collection of Tabebuias, so you can see the various colors, learn their names via the plant labels and see where they are from. The gold and purple trumpet trees are native to the warm tropics of South and Central America.

Many also grow at our public schools thanks to Paul Chang, who worked at Foster Botanical Garden and then as head landscaper for public schools.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidibornhorst@gmail.com.