The Importance of Locally Grown Flowers and Plants for Mothers’ Day

Renowned floral designer Hitomi Gilliam at the flora design workshop held by the Hawai‘i Floriculture and Nursery Association last July. Ho‘ike TV will be showing a video of the workshop for the next few days. Photo courtesy of HFNA

Locally grown flowers and plants are an important alternative to imports. They don’t carry the risk of invasive species that comes with imported flowers and plants. Additionally, local farms and nurseries provide employment and make Hawai‘i’s economy more sustainable, according to a news release from the Hawai‘i Floriculture and Nursery Association.

For these reasons, the State of Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture created the “Buy Local, It Matters” campaign.

HDOA gives grants for projects that contribute to the production and sale of locally grown flowers and plants as an alternative to imports. A recent grant was made to HFNA for workshops and public outreach.

HFNA’s floral design workshop last July featured renowned floral designer Hitomi Gilliam, A.I.F.D. She demonstrated floral arrangements for special occasions made with locally grown flowers and plants. Two of these were for Mothers’ Day, which is coming up May 14.

A flower arrangement made by Hitomi Gilliam for Mothers’ Day. Photo courtesy of HFNA

A two-part video was produced and is now airing on public access TV channels statewide. The video, “Floral Designs for Mothers’ Day,” features highlights of the floral design workshop. This is followed by a segment explaining the importance of locally grown flowers, foliage and plants, and features Sam Gon, Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor for The Nature Conservancy in Hawai‘i.

The video program will be shown on Ho‘ike Kaua‘i Community Television, the community access television provider on Kaua‘i. It will be telecast on Oceanic Time Warner Cable Television as follows:

Channel 54: Thursday, May 4 (8:28 p.m.); Friday, May 5 (8 p.m.); Saturday, May 6 (9:28 a.m., 11:33 a.m. and 8:34 p.m.); Monday, May 8 (8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.); Tuesday, May 9 (9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.); Wednesday, May 10 (9:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.); Thursday, May 11 (9:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.); Friday, May 12 (9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.); and Saturday, May 13 (4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.)