06-29-2007, 03:33 PM
Hey there Fishboy,
I, also, have never heard of any of the silverswords being offered to the public, and that may be due to their extreme scarcity and the fact that their habitats are so specific. Except for the bog-dwelling Ka'u silversword, they like exposed, dry, high elevation places where people would never prefer to live. They are adapted to such a specific niche, and have never dispersed very far from it. I think silverswords would be poor candidates for cultivation in anything but their choice environments. But FYI, some plants on the endangered species list CAN be purchased for use in the home garden IF they have orange tags which prove that they came from a nursery certified to grow them. The deal is you have to always keep the tag with the plant, even when it is planted in the ground, to prove that it had a legitimate origin and that you didn't just dig up the plant from somewhere, which is punishable by a hefty fine and/or prison time etc.,etc. Some endangered plants have proven easy enough to care for in the right environments that they have a good chance of suceeding in home landscapes. I think its a great idea to grow them (legally) if you can provide the right spot and have a basic knowledge of their cultural requirements. In fact, one of Hawai'i's native hibiscus was saved from the brink of extinction because someone grew a hedge of the plant in their backyard(!) Check out this link for the native plants offered by Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden.
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/gre...sales.html
Aloha,
Mitzi
Uluhe Design
Restoration Based Landscape Design for Hawai'i
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
Edited by - mitzi m on 06/30/2007 10:45:04
I, also, have never heard of any of the silverswords being offered to the public, and that may be due to their extreme scarcity and the fact that their habitats are so specific. Except for the bog-dwelling Ka'u silversword, they like exposed, dry, high elevation places where people would never prefer to live. They are adapted to such a specific niche, and have never dispersed very far from it. I think silverswords would be poor candidates for cultivation in anything but their choice environments. But FYI, some plants on the endangered species list CAN be purchased for use in the home garden IF they have orange tags which prove that they came from a nursery certified to grow them. The deal is you have to always keep the tag with the plant, even when it is planted in the ground, to prove that it had a legitimate origin and that you didn't just dig up the plant from somewhere, which is punishable by a hefty fine and/or prison time etc.,etc. Some endangered plants have proven easy enough to care for in the right environments that they have a good chance of suceeding in home landscapes. I think its a great idea to grow them (legally) if you can provide the right spot and have a basic knowledge of their cultural requirements. In fact, one of Hawai'i's native hibiscus was saved from the brink of extinction because someone grew a hedge of the plant in their backyard(!) Check out this link for the native plants offered by Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden.
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/gre...sales.html
Aloha,
Mitzi
Uluhe Design
Restoration Based Landscape Design for Hawai'i
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
Edited by - mitzi m on 06/30/2007 10:45:04
Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com