Bobbing behind me are the chickens that watch and follow in hopes of wayward grasshopper that I catch and throw their way. These aloha poultry are walking manure factories. They eat the bugs and stab the slugs. My neighbor calls chickens the wonder beast. Flower growing on Maui is competitive.
Land is expensive.
Choosing flower varieties that will not be too common, and which sell and ship well is important. Tropical mainstays as ginger, bird of paradise, and citicorum heleconia are staples in the local and mainland markets. You find many mainland florist are unfamiliar with tropical flowers and it is a hard step from the traditional roses and carnations. Growing rarer varieties of tropicals is a speculative venture. Some varieties of tropicals, we were told, as the sexy pink heliconia have been overgrown.