What have you added recently that...

[Mitzi M]

Do you mean the low ground cover bacopa lenagera variegata, also called moneywort? If so, it's a Central American relative of our indigenous 'ae'ae - bacopa monnieri, which as far as I know hasn't appeared in a variegated form. Pretty thing though. Bet you can find it where they sell water garden plants. It would probably be a very good idea to keep it away from any kind of water body though. some of the bacopas have become invasive in streams and rivers in Puerto Rico and Guam. Some plants with interesting sculptural quailties I've been using lately have included halas. They aren't suited to areas near walkways and they shed profusely, so it's hard to plant much underneath them. I've heard some people say that their fallen leaves make a breeding ground for mosquitos, but if that's true they're way behind avocados, bananas and some other large leaved plants. In the right space, perhaps in a small clump, you can't deny the really neat prop roots make a real impact and the overall shape is unique. Halas are indigenous here and also found in other places across the Pacific. They used to cover large stretches of the windward lowlands of all the main islands. Now the largest stretch of hala forest left in the whole chain is in lower Puna. Our native ekaha or bird's nest fern is another beautifully shaped plant. Once when I was walking a property line along some Kamehameha Schools land I came across a group of large rocks with huge ekaha placed on top as a boundary marker. Pretty cool... Ekaha are not so easy to come by - they're pretty slow growers but I have seen them here and there. Like hapu'u, I would only want to pay for one that I knew for sure wasn't just yanked out of the forest.

Aloha,
Mitzi

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