Planting the seeds for a healthy, fruitful life

HONOLULU (KHON2) — An Oahu woman who grew up in her family’s floral business is learning even more about plants after she retired.

“And that’s why just start small, and before you know it, you’ll have 40, 50, 60 pots like I do,” said Kathleen Yoshinaga.

She serves as the Oahu director for the Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association. But she’s been surrounded by flowers, her whole life.

“My father had Stanley Ito Florist. So from there, I actually got pulled into the flower shop to work as a teenager,” said Yoshinaga.

Yoshinaga took over and ran the florist for nearly 40 years before selling it.

“What did I like? The people. I mean, I enjoyed my employees. I had fun with them, I enjoyed my customers,” said Yoshinaga.

She also enjoyed the beauty of creating arrangements that made others happy. But she didn’t really have the time to learn about the planting process, until she retired.

“It’s really embarrassing actually because our neighbors have never seen us for over 30 years because we always had the gardeners come but after I retired, I’m out there weeding and weeding and by weeding, I kind of learned a lot,” said Yoshinaga.

The 70-year-old said through the floriculture association, she’s learned a lot about plants and met different farmers who also educated her.

“If you like flowers, plant flowers, if you want something to grow for you to eat, plant food, plant vegetables then start small,” explained Yoshinaga. “Don’t try to be big because it actually took me almost two years to figure it out.”

She also remains healthy and busy by visiting her grandchildren as well as volunteering most recently with the Hawaiian Humane Society and the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific.

It’s just happiness when you get to go and meet new people and I like meeting new people, I like finding out what they do and now I have time to do it, and as you get older, take the time to do it, we don’t have as much time left so we might as well do as much as we can.”

Kathleen Yoshinaga, Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association Oahu Director

Doing what she can, by planting the seeds for a healthy and fruitful life.