We will kick off the celebration of HIPS’ 50 year anniversary with a visit to one of the society’s early members. 

One of the highlights of this tour will be listening to stories about what it was like to be a HIPS member, growing palms, starting a nursery, and raising a family on the big island in the early 1980’s.  

“We came from 40 years of growing a mature landscaped garden, palm and orchid nurseries on 7 1/2 acres makai, in coastal Kapoho that was inundated by 90 feet of lava. In June 2018.  One month later, we relocated mauka...to Orchidland on a two acre abandoned macadamia nut orchard overrun with weeds and large invasive trees”

Some members will remember visiting Kapoho Kai Nursery and will appreciate their new garden and nursery as a symbol of resilience.  This garden tour will focus on the accomplishments made in the “five years after”, and the gratitude Jan expressed about “…creating this new and growing landscape, and the therapeutic connection we have with nature because of this process.”

Palms, Jan's first botanical love, were the initial foundation plantings, in “starting to build a forest” and to date they have planted 30 genera.  Jan will share her years of experience that shaped the current garden and those with young gardens will not want to miss this tour.  The tour will also reenergize those who think that it is too late to plant or are feeling daunted by rejuvenating older plantings.

And because this is a tour of a garden and a nursery, there will be potted plants available for sale :  Licuala grandis, Allagoptera arenaria, Areca catechu dwarf var, Cocos nucifera dwarf var hybrids,  Chaemerops humilis blue var and many other varieties of palms, some overgrown teenage size plants to choose from.