Friends of Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

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Friends of Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

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This is the official account for the non-profit Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. https://www.amygreenwell.garden/

10/31/2026

10/28/2026

I love Saccharum officianarum, the kō. Kō is the Hawaiian word for sugar cane. And that too was one of those beautiful plants that they carried over and they shared their water with so that when they got here, they could plant this grass. Because, it's a grass, right? I just ate some kō yesterday, the kō that you guys gave us to make our Polynesian garden at my workplace, we just collected the kō kea, which a yellow body, and the inside is very white, and it was one of those good sugars used to sweeten medicines and things like that. The kō are so varied in color and in form and beautiful stories connected to their names. There's kō called manini ʻōwali, there's taro called manini ʻōwali. There's kō called kūmū, there's taro called kūmu, there's a fish called kūmū. So what? They all look the same. The color's exact. So if you were making hoʻokupu, or offerings, then you could use the other one because they're the kinolau of each other. They're the same thing. They have the name, so the Hawaiians appreciated them as the right offering in that way. Sugar cane is good when you cut them and chew them there's all this fiber, so it's like you're flossing your teeth but you're getting candy at the same time. So it's good for your teeth to chew on kō because it roughs up your gum. I know friends who had old coffee farms up here and when their kūpuna would go out to work in the coffee fields, they wouldn't take any lunch. They would just go out in the field, pick all day, and if they were thirsty or needed energy, they would just crack the sugar cane, chew on the kō, or if they needed food for lunch, they'd just eat from their garden out there. They'd never have to go back in, so I think sugar cane was an energy food that was good for travel too in the voyages.

Hear the Narration at the following link

https://amygreenwell.garden/virtual-tour?exhibit=68

10/22/2026

Join us in South Kona on Saturday, November 7, for our free Arbor Day Celebration. The garden will be open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

10/21/2026

Because of the waxy nature of freshly dried ti leaves, bundles of ti were used to thatch buildings in the old days. Hale o Keawe at Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau, the mauseleum for Hawaiian chiefs, is thatched with ti leaf bundles, trimmed with a fern called amaʻu. The ti leaf bundles are very resilient to salt water, to rain. Again, they're waxy so they last quite a while in inclement weather.

Hear the Narration at the following link

https://amygreenwell.garden/virtual-tour?exhibit=67

10/20/2026

The Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is hosting "The Garden as a Living Classroom," a free, four-hour workshop designed for educators across various settings. This workshop will be hosted on October 31st at 9 am. This session explores how gardens and outdoor spaces can support meaningful, hands-on learning. Participants will experience several activities, consider why some lessons stay with us, and learn about the Garden’s educational resources and opportunities for school visits.

Please share with any teachers and educators you may know.

Register
https://www.amygreenwell.garden/events/educators-workshop

School Visit Information
https://www.amygreenwell.garden/school-trips

10/17/2026

Stop by the nursery this Sunday, October 18, for our free Grow Aloha plant adoption event. We are giving away forked fimbry (Fimbristylis dichotoma).

This native clumping grass actually prefers wet environments and handles waterlogged soils easily. It stays under a foot tall and produces small, wispy brown flowers year-round. If you have a damp spot in your yard with access to full sun, it works well as a landscape accent, a low groundcover, or to help prevent soil erosion.

Plants are available between 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

10/15/2026

We are down to the final two tickets for the Pre-Contact Kapa Workshop this Sunday, October 18. Wesley Sen leads the session. Participants will gather kukui and noni directly from the garden grounds to create natural dyes, then decorate a piece of white kapa using hala brushes and Lapa bamboo lines.

Registration is $80 and includes all materials necessary to complete a 12-by-12 inch design. The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Link in the comments to grab one of the last spots before it sells out.

10/14/2026

Many people view the ti plant as a symbol or icon of good luck. You'll often find homes surrounded by hedges of ti leaves or ti plants will be found in pots at the entrances of stores or planted simply at the corners of one's property. They are used in blessing ceremonies. It's thought that the leaves ward off evil spirits or bring good luck.

Hear the Narration at the following link

https://amygreenwell.garden/virtual-tour?exhibit=66

10/08/2026

Kauila is a native Hawaiian tree found in the dry forests of Hawaiʻi. It has a very hard wood. It sinks in water. It was traditionally used in a variety of tools and implements of war because of it hard nature. It is an endangered species, and out at Kaʻūpūlehu there are a few kupuna trees and a lot of keiki that are popping up under them that are doing well. Within a year, some of them have flowered and fruited. A large tree is thirty, thirty-five feet tall and can have a diameter of about two feet.

Hear the Narration at the following link

https://amygreenwell.garden/virtual-tour?exhibit=65

10/07/2026

Gather kukui and noni directly from the garden grounds to create natural dyes. Wesley Sen is leading a morning workshop on pre-contact kapa making on Sunday, October 18. You will learn to decorate a piece of white kapa using hala brushes and Lapa bamboo lines, exploring how this method differs from later ʻohe kāpala stamp designs.

Space is capped at 15 people.

Registration is $80 and covers all materials needed to finish a 12-by-12 inch design during the session. We also have an option to order extra or larger pieces of cloth in advance if you want to take more home. The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the garden. Register at the link below.

https://www.amygreenwell.garden/kapa-workshop

Address

82-6160 Mamalahoa Highway
Captain Cook, HI
96704

Website

http://www.amygreenwell.garden/

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