Pat Gee
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Past articles by Pat:
How to prolong the beauty of Valentine’s Day arrangements
Splurging on flowers for Valentine’s Day stems from the heart, and the sentiment brings big business to the floral industry. It produces over 250 million roses for the occasion, according to the Society of American Florists. → Read More
Column: Gift for plant lovers
It won’t be easy to choose from the profusion of practical and pleasurable gifts available for your favorite plant lover at these four local garden centers. But because it’s the season of Santa and surprise, our suggestions are more decorative and certain to spark delight. (And if the possibilities are too overwhelming, gift certificates are like gold to green-thumbers!) → Read More
As the fall season gets underway, two Oahu farms ready for their annual pumpkin festivals
It’s that time of the year when families can frolic through pumpkin patches to pick the perfect prototypes for carving jack-o’-lanterns, decorating their homes and baking pies. → Read More
Tackling tomatoes: Farmers offer advice to backyard gardeners on growing the quintessential summer crop
Tomatoes may be the backyard gardener’s favorite crop to grow, but they’re also a popular entree choice for bugs and birds, and a buffet for fungi, bacteria and viruses. → Read More
Maui filmmakers honor survivor of Holocaust in ‘Big Sonia’ documentary
At 91, Sonia Warshawski was about to be evicted from the tailor shop she’d run for over 30 years in a defunct shopping mall, but she didn’t intend to go quietly into the night. → Read More
Cultivating Easter lilies can be tricky endeavor
For a week or two in the spring, the traditional white Easter lily is the most coveted flower of the season as a symbol of rebirth and purity, and to Christians, the resurrection of their savior. → Read More
At the Honolulu Lawn Bowls Club, it’s a game of finesse and friendly connections
In the game of life, we all expect a few curveballs, but in lawn bowling, there’s a curve to every ball you roll. → Read More
Netflix’s ‘Two Sentence Horror Stories’ puts spotlight on Hawaii
Maui-born actress Mapuana Makia has the title role in an episode of “Two Sentence Horror Stories,” which can be streamed on Netflix starting Monday, centered around the displacement of old neighborhoods by upscale development and its damaging effects on people and their culture. → Read More
Waimanalo anthurium nursery owner prepares for final plant sales
Alvin Tsuruda keeps calling his Waihale Products nursery a mess after his months-long absence, but the Waimanalo greenhouse is more like an exuberant jumble of bright anthuriums and all sorts of plant life, some of it growing wild out of the ground. → Read More
University of Hawaii film festival for kids spotlights Maui surfer
In August 2020, Bobo Gallagher, an 11-year-old wingfoil surfer from Maui, set out to cross the treacherous Alenuihaha Channel. He did it over four hours with little trouble, and now you can watch his journey in a documentary directed by his sister, Devereaux. → Read More
Honolulu Zoo doo cultivates local gardens, no-waste attitude
Fertilizer made mostly from elephant dung seems to be the latest craze among gardeners since the pandemic prompted a heightened incentive to grow things. → Read More
Free Stores offer local gardeners an outlet for extra clippings, seeds and even books
Backyard gardeners always have more fruits and vegetables than they could possibly eat or an excess of ornamental clippings and seedlings to fill another yard. And like plant lovers everywhere, they hate seeing anything go to waste. → Read More
Persnickety poinsettias from Haleiwa nursery arrive for the holiday season
This month, thousands of rows of poinsettias at the Alluvion Inc. nursery/florist in Haleiwa turned red, pink and white just in time for holiday decorations, the culmination of meticulous cultivation that started in July. → Read More
Church seeks nominations for Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award
The Church of the Crossroads is calling on the community for nominations for its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award. → Read More
When it comes to mango trees, it’s all about managing growth
Now that the last mango has been picked and your tree seems to have doubled in size, it’s time to trim the branches sprouting over the roof and encroaching into the neighbor’s yard. → Read More
New Kaimuki shop Plantoem captures the poetry of plants
Growing houseplants was only a hobby until COVID-19 put Zoe Zhang out of a job last year. In August she turned an online venture into her dream business — a community garden cafe. → Read More
Meal program helps Windward Community College students succeed
Students just scraping by on scholarships at Windward Community College are being nourished by a free meal program that fortifies their ability to concentrate on their studies, and consequently, boosts their graduation rates. → Read More
A Laie family has cultivated a backyard orchid farm into a thriving vanilla business
Every morning from 6 a.m. to noon, Saili Levi and his 8-year-old daughter Malie hand-pollinate the flowers of the vanilla orchid vines they grow for the Laie Vanilla Co., their family business. → Read More
Amid its 50th anniversary, Kokua Market is facing its biggest fight to stay alive
Kokua Market in Moiliili is hoping to beef up sales over the next four weeks with the addition of a new in-store butcher shop to survive a dire financial slump that may force the cooperative to close this fall. → Read More
Garden Variety: Monstera’s little-known fruit lies hidden among its leaves
Monstera, a popular icon of a tropical garden, is a rigorous climbing vine with monstrous leaves. But most people are unaware that the most commonly known species produces fruit that tastes like a cross between a banana and a pineapple. → Read More