The family behind Always Anthuriums: (L-R) Founders Jim & Norma Watt, and their daughter and son-in-law Heidi and Brad Gingrich.
We have a true passion for anthuriums.
The Watt family has been forest-growing, hand-cutting, and packing anthuriums with care since 1991. Each anthurium is grown naturally, without herbicides, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers.
OUR STORY
Always anthuriums was started by Jim and Norma Watt in the 1980’s by hiking anthurium plants into 4 acres of `ohia and hapu`u forest in Mountain View. The forest started with invasive waiawi` (strawberry guava) competing with the native plants.
“We started by pulling out the waiawi` by hand and over several years we removed the waiawi` and brought in cinder for pathways. We chipped the waiawi` and it became mulch for the planting of anthuriums on the understory of the forest, beneath the native hapu`u fern trees. Now when the hapu`u fronds are trimmed, they’re mulched and added back into the anthurium beds. After almost 30 years of working with nature, the anthuriums are thriving in the natural greenhouse of hapu`u and `ohia forest.” – Norma Watt
OUR FARM
Pesticides or herbicides are not sprayed in the anthurium forest, making it an ecosystem providing a home for birds in the treetops, bugs in the soil, and native trees, ferns and mosses.
Many of our anthuriums flowers are ‘seedlings’ that result from cross pollination which can create new variations in shapes and colors. Anthuriums can be propagated from the seeds that form on the ‘nose’ or from top cuttings that are replanted. Besides seedlings and common varieties, we have unique heirloom and obake varieties.
Farming in the forest leads to some damage and debris resulting in the need for each flower to be washed and inspected. We also have to be on the watch for pig damage (our midnight raiders looking for grubs) as well as other insect pests and disease but overall the flowers are thriving, healthy and glossy and we have been getting rave reviews for decades.
ANTHURIUMS
Anthuriums: The name anthurium, comes from the Greek words anthos ‘flower’ and oura ‘tail’. The ‘tail flower’ denotes the manner in which it blooms consists of a spathe and the spadix, on which the flowers are found. The Genus is anthurium andraeanum and family name araceae.
Although they thrive in the humid topical climate of Hawai’i, these beauties are not native to the islands, but came from the rainforests of the Americas. The first anthuriums arrived by ship to Hawai`i in the late 1800s. It is said the plants were introduced to Hawaii in 1889 by a Samuel Damon, of a prominent missionary family.
Known for its distinctive heart shape and long shelf life, anthuriums bloom year-round and are also know by the names tailflower, flamingo flower, and heart-shaped flower