That tropical look may be achieved with the right plants
Today’s column comes to you from the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew. We are here for a meeting of the International Palm Society. For those who have not experienced this amazing 500 acre plus garden, it is like the Walt Disney World of horticulture. The gardens date back to the early 18th century as royal palace gardens to today’s globally renowned scientific institution for plant and fungal research. In 1759, Princess Augusta, mother of King George the third, started it all. Today it employs over a thousand people. Kew is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage site and houses over 50,000 species both native and introduced from all over the world. We are here primarily to study the family of palms.
Hundreds of kids attend Hawaii Keiki Rodeo
Nearly 400 keiki ranging in age from 2 to 17 years old displayed the paniolo spirit at the Hawaii Keiki Rodeo held on Saturday, April 29, and Sunday, April 30, at the Pana‘ewa Equestrian Center
Out-of-Doors event features Disney songs
Singers with the East Hawaii Cultural Center and the Hilo Education Arts Repertory Theatre performed Disney songs during the Out-of-Doors concert in Lincoln Park last Saturday.
AARP offers free disaster preparation webinar
The beginning of hurricane season next month is a reminder for all Hawaii residents to have a disaster plan and disaster kit or to refresh and restock their disaster plans and kits.
Army soldiers help clean Pu‘ukohola Heiau site
More than a dozen soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment on May 16-17 volunteered to clean up the beach area of the Pu‘ukohola Heiau National Historic Site in West Hawaii.
Let’s Talk Food: Recipes from HIAC Cookbook
Many nonprofit organizations need to constantly have fundraisers to continue their programs. One such is the Hawaii Adult Day Care Center, which started in 1976 with a dozen frail elderly adults gathered at Kaumana Baptist Church. Their sons and daughters needed to have them watched over while they were at work.
Volcano Watch: Ups and downs at Kilauea summit: Quiescence, eruptions, and constant change
May 3 marked the fifth anniversary of the start of Kilauea’s historic 2018 eruption that resulted in extensive lava flows from the East Rift Zone and major collapses of the summit caldera floor. Since that 2018 activity, Kilauea has experienced nearly constant change with distinct episodes of calm, unrest, eruptions, and everything in between.
Tropical Gardening: Many plants from the Southern Hemisphere thrive in Hawaii
It seems bizarre that many plants from some of the most ancient geological regions of the world readily adapt to Hawaii’s young volcanic soils. Some in Hawaii are from Australia and ancient islands like Madagascar and New Caledonia. When it comes to strange animals and plants, Australia is in the lead for its share of the unusual to unique. This ancient mini continent has mammals that lay eggs to the marsupials that carry their premature babies in pouches. Recent fires put many in the animal kingdom at risk and the plant kingdom as well. Some Australian ecosystems will be altered for centuries and some may never recover.
May events at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
The following events are occurring this month in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Orchid Isle Orchestra presents “Seaside Strings” on Sunday
Orchid Isle Orchestra, or OIO, will present a free all-strings concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, at the East Hawaii Cultural Center in downtown Hilo.
Western Week festivities return to Honokaa
Honokaa Western Week is back full force after a three-year pandemic pause.
Hale Anuenue names new executive director
Hale Anuenue Restorative Care Center, a local skilled nursing and rehabilitation center, recently named Donna Okinaka its new executive director.
EHCC to host discussion on policing
The East Hawaii Cultural Center will recognize its history as the former police station, jail and courthouse from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday by hosting a panel discussion on policing that is free and open to the public.
Learn about the importance of bees Saturday
Bird and Bee Hawaii is hosting its first World Bee Day event on Saturday to raise awareness about the importance of bees.
Black Hawk touch down: National Guard helicopter lands at Kealakehe High School
Students pray for deliverance from their studies all the time, but few expect relief to come from the heavens as it did Wednesday at Kealakehe High School.
Two blood drives set for the Big Island
The Blood Bank of Hawaii is holding two blood drives. They are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday in Hilo at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and June 20-22 in Kailua-Kona at The LDS Church Kona’s cultural hall.
More than $63,000 raised for Hawaii Island United Way
Hawaiian Electric employees and retirees on Hawaii Island, with support from IBEW Local 1260, together raised more than $63,000 during the company’s workplace campaign to benefit Hawaii Island United Way.
Have ‘Coffee with a Cop’ in Hilo or South Kohala
Hawaii Police Department’s South Hilo and South Kohala Community Policing Sections invite the public to join them for Coffee with a Cop at two events in Hilo and a third in South Kohala.
Let’s Talk Food: Dinner salads
As the evenings are getting warmer, a hearty salad may be a great dinner entree.
Volcano Watch: Explosive eruptions from Halemaʻumaʻu in 1924
May 2023 marks the 99th anniversary of a sequence of explosive eruptions from Kilauea’s summit that occurred over 16 days from May 11–27, 1924. During this eruption, about 60 explosions occurred from Halema‘uma‘u with fragments ranging from volcanic ash to large blocks the size of cars falling around the summit caldera.
