Paradise Lost

 

Waipahu lost its native luster to concrete, asphalt, strip malls and apartments.

Hawaii?EUR??,,????'???s natural beauty captivates visitors, not surprising, as according to the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum on Oahu, ?EUR??,,????'??well over 90 percent of Hawaii’s flora is found nowhere else on earth.?EUR??,,????'?? In paradise, however, man has managed to denude the landscape. An ?EUR??,,????'??estimated 272 of Hawaii’s 1,102 plant species are listed as endangered, and 10 are threatened,?EUR??,,????'?? notes the arboretum.

?EUR??,,????'??They paved paradise and put up a parking lot,?EUR??,,????'?? begin the lyrics of Joni Mitchell?EUR??,,????'???s 1970 song ?EUR??,,????'??Big Yellow Taxi,?EUR??,,????'?? inspired during her vacation in Hawaii when she looked out at the gorgeous view from her room and then down to the parking lot. What she feared came to pass in Waipahu, Oahu. Once a plantation town, Waipahu lost its native luster to concrete, asphalt, strip malls and apartments. The Waipahu landscape was further demeaned by an ugly brown strip of weeds and a chain-link fence separating Farrington Highway.

The new landscaping for the Farrington Highway in Waipahu, Oahu.

Now, a $4.25 million state project under the direction of DOT in Waipahu has lined the 2.14 mile median with, what else, palms, 230 of them, plus 3,320 shrubs (including yellow hibiscus), 121,000 square feet of wedelia ground cover and 78,000 square feet of bermudagrass. Bermudagrass!? (Bermudagrass is native to Africa.)