Transforming land back to ʻāina
Native Hawaiian and canoe plants, grown in Kāneʻohe since 1999.
When we started, you could buy maybe five native Hawaiian plants in the islands. Today there are nearly 200.
We helped grow that. Our plants live in restoration sites, school campuses, resort gardens, and backyards statewide
100+
Native species in our nursery
~200
Native species now sold in Hawaiʻi
150,000+
Plants grown to reforest Johnston Atoll
35 acres
Of Kalaeloa coastline restored
nā mea kanu
What grows here
Native plants
More than 100 species from every corner of the islands, coast to upland forest.
Canoe plants
The plants early Polynesian voyagers carried here, each woven into Hawaiian cultural practice.
Wholesale, retail & rentals
One plant for your lānai, thousands for a landscape, or rentals for your next event.
Growing now
See all plants →
hoʻōla ʻāina
When the land heals, life comes back.
After we restored a stretch of Waimānalo Stream, the endangered ʻalae ʻula (Hawaiian gallinule) returned to breed there, raising three generations of chicks where it had never been recorded before.
3 streams
Waimānalo
3 wetlands
Mōkapu Peninsula
35 acres
Kalaeloa
150,000+
Johnston Atoll
how we kōkua
More than a nursery.
Landscaping
Native gardens on every island, from backyards to resorts.
Learn more →
Habitat restoration
Bringing degraded streams, wetlands, and coastlines back to life.
Learn more →
Consulting
What to plant, where, and how to care for it.
Learn more →
Plant rentals & gifts
Living native plants for events, plus gifts and centerpieces.
Learn more →
Education
Hands-on learning through our sister nonprofit, Papahana Kuaola.
Learn more →
ko mākou moʻolelo
Rick Barboza came to native plants through Hawaiʻi’s birds. Matt Schirman came through Hawaiian culture. Both arrived at the same place: neither can thrive without healthy native ecosystems. In 1999 they founded Hui Kū Maoli Ola to grow them back.
ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi
Every plant speaks two languages.
Our native plant database is written in both English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, translated by students from the University of Hawaiʻi. Read each plant’s story in either language, side by side.
Explore the plants →
aʻo
People protect what they understand.
In 2005 we founded Papahana Kuaola, our sister nonprofit, to bring hands-on learning about native plants and the ʻāina to schools and the community.
Trusted by
Department of Health · DLNR · EPA · U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service · U.S. Military · University of Hawaiʻi · Kamehameha Schools · Aulani · Sierra Club Hawaiʻi
Find our plants around Oʻahu
20+ native species, rotated weekly.
The Home Depot
City Mill
Koʻolau Farmers
Pearl Harbor NEX
