Using What You Have

One of the benefits of creating and maintaining your own lei garden (space, time, and funds permitting) is the ability to craft lei with readily available materials Taking care of my lei garden at my home is truly one of my greatest joys. There's nothing quite like stepping out into the yard with my dogs, seeing what has come up overnight, and putting together a lei from materials in my own backyard

Why I Love Using What I Have

• Sustainability, for real: Being able to harvest right from my own lei garden means less waste and zero need for imported flowers. All green waste goes right back into the compost pile.

• Creative freedom: What’s growing right now? Poha berries? Ti? Something always surprises me, and I love weaving together colors and textures that are a little unusual or different.

• Rooted in place: Every lei carries the spirit of my home, the hills, rain, and sunshine of Waimea.

• Easy wellness: Lei making is my self-care ritual. Getting hands-in-the-dirt and then hands-on-the-raffia keeps stress away and fills every week with color and fragrance.

  
  

This Week’s Lei Story

I was lucky enough to craft a lei for a dear friend leading a niu basket weaving class and the only request was that it have some native plants. Although a lot of my flowering plants (like the dahlias) have died back for the colder months, I do have loads of pōhinahina, pōha berries, ti, and hinahina. Since I had creative freedom for the lei, I decided to use the combination of the rough papery skirts of the pōha with the smooth green berries set against the whispy strands of hinahina. The rich sage like scent of the pōhinahina tied everything together.

Bringing It All Together

Running Lei Lupea with a garden at my fingertips is a daily journey in mālama ʻāina and creative joy. Every lei I share is woven with the essence of my little patch of Waimea, blending tradition, sustainability, and a whole lot of personality (my lei definitely lean more non-traditional). Whether you’re making lei for special occasions or simply weaving your week’s mood into a strand, a lei garden makes every creation feel like home; unique, rooted, and alive.