Lei Day, officially launched in 1928, is a popular festival in Hawai`i. Don Blanding, then a columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, came up with the idea, later saying that at the time Hawai`i had no day that was special. Why not have a Lei Day – a day when everyone could wear lei and give
Articles from Month April 2018
Packing and Travel Hacks
It’s the end of April. Rain is streaming down my windows. I’m thinking about summer holidays — the kind that require a passport or at least an airline ticket. Although I know I’ll enjoy my destination, there are two things I dread: making the travel arrangements and packing. Travel arrangements are fairly straightforward. Packing is
Moghul & Persian Gardens of Paradise
The Taj Mahal is many things. It’s a seventeenth century mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. As such, it’s often called a monument to love. Mumtaz Mahal Begum (Exalted One of the Palace) was the Shah’s second wife, and chief consort. She died giving birth to her fourteenth child. Shah
Natural Gardens in China & Japan
Long before Capability Brown improved English landscapes, Chinese and Japanese garden designers created “natural” gardens. Ji Cheng (1582-1642) observed in the seventeenth century that the purpose of a Chinese garden is to “hide the vulgar and the common as far as the eye can see, and include the excellent and the splendid.” In this photo, there
The Landscape Gardens of Capability Brown
Although gardening takes place all year round, it comes to mind most readily in the spring. April is a good month for planting trees, shrubs, and annual flowering bulbs that bloom in summer. These might include dahlias and gladiolas. It’s also time to plant seeds for marigolds and zinnias. If you go to your local
