Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Here's Hawai'i | March/April 2003

Here's Hawai'i

Flourishing Fragrance

The sweet mountain air on the slopes of Haleakala is made even sweeter by Nanea ao Kula's 3 acres of lavender plants

In the 1930s, a French chemist named Rene-Maurice Gatefosse had a laboratory accident that burned his hand severely. He plunged his hand into a tub of clear liquid nearby and discovered to his surprise that the burn healed quickly and miraculously, without scarring. The liquid was lavender oil, and Gatefosse's accident, along with the work of Dr. Jean Valnet (a World War II field surgeon who used lavender oil to heal wounds), spawned a new wave of research into the healing power of the lavender plant.

Today, aromatherapy is a household word and lavender is widely recognized, even in the British Pharmacopoeia, as an essential oil that calms, uplifts and heals. Mentioned in everything from Shakespeare to nursery rhymes, lavender-in my opinion one of the most euphonious words in the English language-conjures up pleasing fragrances, colors, flavors and images, such as English gardens and delicately scented infusions and teas.

Now we can add the slopes of Haleakala to the store of lavender lore. With more than two dozen varieties of lavender sprawling over 3 acres of prime soil in Upcountry Maui's Kula, Nanea ao Kula is Hawai'i's newest purveyor of lavender products for beauty, well-being and culinary enhancement.

There are lavender bath salts, lotions, potpourris, cut flowers, lavender honey (good), lavender herb salt seasoning with kukui nut (another favorite), lavender peach jam (with tasty Kula peaches, excellent!) and new products being created constantly.

"We have more than 10,000 plants in the ground," notes Ali'i Chang, the green thumb on the farm and one of four partners in the company. "We have just put in another 500 plants and we are still planting."

The flowers perfume the clear Kula air and blanket the landscape with green and purple velvet amid the bromeliads, protea and herb gardens that Ali'i is also growing. The view, from the 3,700-foot elevation, forms the quintessential Kula canvas: broad strokes of color that change with the light and undulate down the flanks of Haleakala to central Maui, the West Maui Mountains and the ocean.

The planting began in 2001, but the venture took root when Ali'i's longtime friend, renowned Hawai'i singer Emma Veary, handed him a bouquet of lavender she had brought back from Oregon, home of a legendary festival held in honor of the bloom each year. Impressed, Ali'i planted four types of lavender-now there are 27-and enlisted the help of Easter Martin, another old friend and now co-owner in charge of product development. Easter's friend from France, where lavender is a way of life, introduced her to new products and information. Ali'i, the master gardener, forged ahead.

Easter recalls: "Our research showed us how popular lavender is on the Mainland and Ali'i figured it would grow well here. The conditions here are dry, hot during the day and cool at night, with good drainage."

The products are made on the farm to Easter's formulas, but until a distiller is installed, lavender oil from the Mainland is used. The culinary and crafted products, however, contain the home-grown Kula lavender. "When I first started researching lavender a couple of years ago, there were 28 types; now there are more than 100," Ali'i says. "Lavender doesn't only come in one color, it comes in an array of colors. And every plant has a different fragrance."

The farm also has become a gathering place for lavender lovers, who can visit the store, attend lavender tea tours and special luncheons, take lei-making workshops and monthly crafts workshops using lavender grown on the farm. On special occasions, her celestial voice wafting over the fields of lavender inspired by her gift to a friend, Emma Veary sings.

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