Garet Uemura Biography

 

 

 

After graduating from high school, I attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa on the Island of Oahu eventually receiving my B.S. in botany.  While at Manoa, I had the good fortune of meeting Mrs. Betsy Sakata though a mutual friend.    Left: ‘Star of Siam ’ from one of the displays that I helped Mrs. Sakata with while in college.  S.o.S. was one of the lilies that Mrs. Sakata helped Richard Sacher introduce to the US market.

 

While attending U.H., she mentored me in growing and showcasing waterlilies and lotus in commercial ponds.  Many of my fondest college memories were of my weekends that I would spend with her and her husband helping them with their plants.  While we would be working in her garden, repotting her lilies and lotus she would tell me the history of each of the plants – how it came about, or the story behind how she acquired it.  She would also quiz me on lily identification.  She would show me a leaf and expect me to able to identify which plant it came from.  At first I thought that this was an impossible task, but slowly-by-slowly I came to realize that there were different features that distinguished each variety – leaf color, lobes, sinus, shape, etc.   To this day, I still consider her to be a second mother to me. It was through her guidance that I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the I.W.G.S. and her various lily contacts throughout the world.    

 

Besides being one of the pioneers in bringing Thai lilies to the United States, Mrs. Sakata was the driving force behind introducing water gardening to Hawaii.          Right: ‘Betsy Sakata’ that I received from Mrs. Betsy Sakata.

Many of her displays were found in public areas such as the Ala Moana Shopping Center ; Honolulu Academy of Arts, and University of Hawaii at Manoa Krauss Pond.  She also helped to supply local nurseries with water plants for backyard gardeners.   

Besides Mrs. Betsy Sakata, there have been several other influential people in my life as far as waterlilies are concerned.  These are individuals that I highly respect: Dr. Slearmlarp Wasuwat and his daughter Primlarp (Praw) of Thailand , Mrs. Bubpa of Thailand , Mr. Yutaka Shiroyama/Mr. Masaya Ueda of Mizu-no-Mori Aquatic Gardens in Japan as well as his staff, Mr. Kohichi Miyagawa of Japan, Mr. Mauro Bergamo of Italy, Mr. Craig Presnell of Florida , and last, but not least Mr. Ken Landon of Texas.  These individuals are working hard at promoting water gardening/preserving waterlilies and lotus for everyone to enjoy. 

 

Above: ‘Niemi’s Opal’ which was hybridized by a dear friend, Jean Niemi of Honolulu , Hawaii who passed away in 2006.  She is deeply missed, but I am grateful that she entrusted me with this lily to remember her by.  Jean would often tell me about how she wished to hybridize a dark blue waterlily which she intended to name after her mother.  The lily had to be dark blue as it was one of the few colors that she could still clearly see.  However, her life was cut short too soon and she was unable to accomplish her goal. I will always remember Jean as the grandma who loved to travel!

 

I am often asked about my favorite lilies.  In particular, I have an attraction to the Nang Kwak (Indian Goddess) group of lilies from Thailand .  These lilies were introduced to Thailand by Dr. Slearmlarp Wasuwat who acquired them from India .  He popularized them in his country where they currently flourish.  These lilies were first introduced to the States by Betsy Sakata. My favorite Nang Kwak would have to be Nang Kwak – Buaburin which was hybridized by Mrs. Pensiri of Bangkok .  She named the lily after her shop, “Buaburin” – ‘bua’ which means waterlily or lotus, and ‘burin’ which means big city’ in the Thai language. 

 

Besides waterlilies, I have a strange fascination with the Genus of waterlily-like plants called Nuphar.

 

For me, hybridization and preservation of waterlilies is a backyard hobby.  I have no intensions of making it a full time job as I am currently a science teacher at Hilo High School .  I usually do not sell my lilies as I do not have enough time to mass produce them.  I enjoy giving my lilies away to friends as gifts and to those who I feel will take care of them and preserve them. 

 

 

 

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