Post #240388 by nuimaleko on Thu, Jun 29, 2006 4:26 PM

I thought about mint, but it would be really strong. Maybe a combo of mint and lemon. I have also been thinking about sliver dollar eucalyptus leaves, they are medium in size, round and don't have a very strong cough drop smell. Of course if you have a cold that wouldn't be bad thing. LOL. You could make eucalyuptus leaf lei especailly for sick friends.
You can make lei of polished nuts and seeds too, but you will problably have to drill a hole in them and that becomes more like making jewelry than lei making. A bit too advanced for me.
Hawaian Ti does not like our dry climate, but we have a close relative in abundance, Cordyline stricta and I think you could make ti leaf type lei from them. I was wondering if colored canna leaves like tropicana or Bengal Tiger could be knotted like a ti lei, or in place of ti leaves use butterfly ginger leaves? The shape and thickness is very similar.
The flowers of butterfly ginger don't travel well but can be grown anywhere in zone 8 or higher and are used all the time in Hawaii. They thrive here in Sacramento CA and flower abundantly in late summer. There are two ways to use them, strung through the center or sewn through the side as buds to make a flat colar like lei.