Thursday, February 2, 2023

2023 pre-Punahou Carnival "Haku" Workshop

After a 2 year break due to Covid, the Punahou Carnival Haku making sessions opened again for 2 days on Jan. 31 & Feb. 1.  It was a reunion and fun time for everyone to be able to get our hands on the lovely floral materials and create works of wearable art.


Sarah



Cory



Christine



Dayna



Cory and Dale



Sue



I was lucky to get my friends who are in the floral industry to join me for the night.  Dale, Cory, Christine, Dayna and Sue.  My daughter Sarah was the photographer.


My first lei po'o of the night.



My second lei po'o.


Sarah's lei


Sue's 3 lei


Dale's lei

On the second night, we were rushed and didn't have too much time to take pics but I did take a short video.




My final 2 lei po'o of the workshop.  It was a fun two nights.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Coconut Basket Weaving with Uncle Onio

 A fun, informative, two hour session with Uncle Onio of Kauai, who taught us how to weave a quick basket with coconut fronds.  Most of the "laborious" parts of stripping the fronds was done by him so that we could start right in with the weaving.

"Poster" for the different uses of the coconut.


Uncle Onio demonstrating.


Constructing the sides of the basket
 
 

Bottom completed
 

Extra length of fronds tucked into sides.



Flipped over to show the bottom of the basket "star."
 


Friday, October 14, 2022

HFNA Wedding Celebration 10/6-8/22 Hilo


 

The Wedding Celebration was held in beautiful Hilo.
 
Britney from Haku Maui was the first presenter and gave us a workshop on Lei Po'o (head lei).
 
Bruno Duarte of Canada did several beautiful "sculptural" pieces utilizing Hawaiian products.


Lia & Kelsy were a duo from the Big Island demonstrating use of wire techniques.


 
Sue Tabbal-Yamaguchi AIFD EMC utilized European techniques in her bouquets.


 




 Lois Hiranaga AIFD showed several lush bouquets.


Dotty Yadao incorporated bromeliads into her bouquets.
 

On the final day, Susan McLeary showed body flowers and a table garland.
 

Tim Farrell AIFD talked about principles and elements of design and added unusual touches to bouquets to make them more interesting.



Final project was held in the Liliu'okalani Garden.  All designers joined in for a pic under the arch designed by Hitomi Gilliam AIFD and flowered by many of the designers.
 


 

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Floral Jewelry Workshop at the Honolulu Museum of Art


 

HFNA Wedding Celebrations 2022

 


HFNA’s WEDDING CELEBRATIONS 2022
Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, 71 Banyan Drive,  Hilo Hawaii 96720 USA
October 6, 7 & 8, 2022
 
The Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association (HFNA) is pleased to invite you to attend their Wedding Celebrations 2022 in-person events being held October 6, 7 and 8th at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

This three-day event is our first since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. We are very pleased to welcome you all back to Hilo to visit our flower and foliage nurseries to see our beautiful Hawaii grown tropical floral products as well as new temperate farms on the Big Island of Hawaii. You will also have the opportunity to discuss trends in floral design, any traits you'd like to see in new varieties with the breeders and growers of our tropical flowers, and enjoy working with our flowers yourselves in our hands-on workshop with host renowned floral designer Hitomi Gilliam AIFD.

You will find the Schedule of Events and our registration form as well as the advance registration form for the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel's special rates on our website:


www.hawaiineotropica.com

Be assured we will be maintaining certain covid mitigation protocols. Face masks are preferred.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy!

We are so excited to see all of you in Hilo!


With warmest Aloha,
Judy Schilling
HFNA Grant Administrator
& Recording Secretary
hfnajudy@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

"Nurture a Beautiful Industry in Hawaii" by Eric Tanouye

 https://aifdfocalpoints.com/nurture-a-beautiful-industry-in-hawaii/

 

Nurture a Beautiful Industry in Hawaii

By Eric Tanouye • Feb. 13, 2022 
Originally published in the Honolulu Star Advertiser

Regardless of what field of business you are in, today’s competitive marketplace requires “entrepreneurial bridge builders” to compete and succeed. The Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association (HFNA) and its 300-plus members statewide rely on export, primarily to the U.S. mainland, for roughly 50% of our revenue. Forging strategic alliances to create a win-win outcome is essential to carving out market share in the highly competitive global marketplace. 

According to a 2017 study from the Wholesale Florist and Florist Supplier Association, 80% of cut flowers sold in the U.S. were imported. Colombia controlled 65%, Ecuador 20%, the European Union 6%, Canada 4%, and Mexico 2%, with consolidation at the farm level in South America. 

There are five to seven large distribution and production companies concentrating on North America to grow market share. About 20% of the flowers sold in the U.S. were domestically grown, and California had the lion’s share with 78%. Hawaii was a distant third with 4%. Hawaii’s market share may seem small, but our current demand exceeds our supply. 

There are many factors that allow Hawaii’s small, family-run floriculture operations to compete with the giants in the marketplace. A key factor is the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources research and development program under the direction of Dr. Tessie Amore. 

Like her predecessor and mentor, Dr. Haruyuki Kamemoto, she and her students crossbreed anthuriums to create beautiful varieties unique to Hawaii. We currently have more than 25 UH anthurium varieties that give our growers a competitive advantage. The program also develops highly sought-after dendrobium orchids. The most widely grown dendrobium varieties in Hawaii were developed by Dr. Kamemoto. 

HFNA recently joined Amore in creating a professional advisory team (PAT) made up of renowned floral designers from Canada, California and Hawaii. It can take up to 14 years to develop a flower for production. It is imperative that Amore and her students get feedback on flowers in development from leading American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) certified professionals. It is imperative that growers and designers collaborate with the scientists leading research and development to keep our industry vibrant. 

The right color, shape, stem length and other characteristics are critical to the return on investment. Applying science to the art of floral design requires the critical eye of a designer to identify the nuances of a desirable flower. Amore has studied to become a skillful and creative floral designer, and she is working toward the coveted AIFD certification. Current and future students will gain valuable insight in applied science from their professor and the professional advisory team. 

Hawaii has an aging population of growers, and we are at a critical juncture. We need young agricultural entrepreneurs to enter the field. Programs like PAT will play a key role in providing young people an opportunity at a rewarding career in agriculture. 

Two of my sons have joined our family’s Green Point Nurseries. We have 50 employees and a couple of them have been with us for 30-plus years and several employees for 20-plus years. The operations of HFNA’s membership will differ in size but when we consider there are more than 300 family-run nurseries, that equates to a significant contribution in jobs and tax revenue. 

Together with Dr. Amore, we plan to expand the advisory team to include designers from key states across the U.S. Researchers, students, growers, designers, consumers, the university and the state — all win when we build bridges of collaboration. 

A note from the author:

This op-ed centers on creating bridges of collaboration between researchers and students at the University of Hawaii, growers and AIFD designers. The designers are part of the Professional Advisory Team that provide feedback on flowers in development at the UH R&D program.

Here are the designers who are volunteering the time and expertise:

CANADA

Hitomi Gilliam AIFD

Brenna Quan AIFD

CALIFORNIA

Phil Rulloda AIFD

Cathy Hillen-Rulloda AIFD

HAWAII

Lois Hiranaga AIFD

Deborah Di Bella AIFD

Sue Tabbal-Yamaguchi AIFD, EMC

These designers are shinning a good light on AIFD in inspiring the next generation of researchers and flower breeders.