Be a Native Plant Champion

If you’re like me, you often become overwhelmed when thinking about the huge challenges facing humanity – climate change, mass extinction, or the fact that Netflix keeps cancelling your favorite shows after only one season. While we’re not likely convince Netflix that Kaos was worth at least a second season, I’m happy to report there’s a way that you can make a small, but important, difference in the world – especially when it comes to supporting Hawaii’s native plants.

Do you have a yard, lanai, or even a window box? If so, you can be a native plant champion! Go Native! Your guide to growing Native Hawaiian and canoe plants wherever you live work or play, published by our friends at the Hawaii Forest Institute, is a fantastic guide that made this closeted native plant fangirl extremely excited. Even if you’re unsure about growing native plants, Go Native! makes choosing and planting them in nearly any environment so easy by providing:

• Growing zone maps for each island,

• A reference table with over 200 native Hawaiian plants, and

• 24 landscape scenarios with plans for recommended plant pairings and placements.

The book is part of the Go Native Project, which encourages the cultivation of native Hawaiian and Polynesian-introduced plants, particularly in urban and suburban areas. The idea is that if we can inspire enough people to create native Hawaiian “Victory Gardens,” then these kīpuka can collectively form an urban forest and eventually connect with remaining natural forests. Someday you might even see Kamehameha butterflies and Hawaiian forest birds in your backyard!

So, buy the book, or borrow it from your local library and make a goal to replace at least one introduced plant in your outdoor space with a native. You can even encourage your local schools and public spaces to plant appropriate native plants.

Step by step – or plant by plant – you’re making a difference.

— Angela Britten, CFRE