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Associated Press

Dear tourist: the flowers in the bright-purple lei you received on your Hawaiian holiday almost certainly were not grown in the Aloha State.
The vast majority of those odourless orchids are imported from Thailand, where it is cheaper to grow and string them into the garlands synonymous with Hawaiian culture.
Some Hawaii lawmakers think the US state should be doing more to help the producers of lei made with locally grown flowers. Ideas include labelling requirements that would identify Hawaii-made garlands and a prohibition on state agencies buying imported lei, though some lei sellers worry that such rules would make the garlands too expensive.
“You don’t come to Hawaii and not at least have a flower or a lei,” says Kuhio Lewis, chief executive of the Hawaiian Council, a non-profit organisation that promotes Native Hawaiian culture and business. “For us to now be importing is not good. It’s actually embarrassing.”

The custom of giving and wearing lei made of flowers, leaves, seeds or shells has always been associated with Hawaiian people, for whom the garlands represent love or the spirit of “aloha”. They were used not just for ceremonies but worn in everyday life by everyone from chiefs to children, according to a 2002 paper published by the University of Hawaii.
Today, people in Hawaii give and receive lei for all kinds of celebrations, including birthdays and promotions. High school, college and even junior school graduates receive lei piled to the tops of their heads, their faces slowly vanishing behind a rising wall of flowers.
Each year on the opening day of the Legislature, lawmakers meet a similar fate. Pregnant women are given open-ended strands, rather than a closed necklace, because of a tradition that says the latter represents the umbilical cord wrapping around their baby’s neck.
“We always are looking for ways that we can honour people through our indigenous cultures, which is giving lei,” says American politician Darius Kila, who is native Hawaiian.

Because lei-giving is so ingrained in Hawaii, lawmakers are constantly buying them and doling them out – at groundbreakings, to honour constituents or volunteers, or for staffers’ birthdays, for example.
This year, Kila sponsored a bill, requested by the Hawaiian Council, that would have required a certain percentage of lei bought by state officials to include flowers grown in-state. It also sought lei labels telling customers where the flowers were grown.
That measure failed, but a related bill in the Senate remains alive. It would create a work group to study whether local flower-growers and lei-makers can meet the rising demand for the garlands, and make recommendations for protecting the local industry.
As Hawaii’s population and tourism boomed in the 20th century, lei-makers turned to non-native ornamental plants such as carnations and jasmine to meet soaring demand, and those are still some of the most popular.
Kila, a Democrat from Oahu, says he has a strict rule for himself and his staff: “I really try not to give out orchid lei, specifically the purple Thailand orchid lei.”

While shopping for lei recently in Honolulu’s Chinatown, home to a concentration of lei stands and flower shops, Kila sought out puakenikeni – also known as the “10-cent flower”, supposedly dating to the days when lei cost a US dime – as well as ginger and tuberose. The blooms, which are not native, emit various degrees of jasmine-like sweetness.
“People want pikake,” which is a type of jasmine, says Francis Wong, owner of long-time Chinatown fixture Jenny’s Lei and Flowers. “That’s the top flower in Hawaii.”
Wong usually sources the aromatic white flowers from a farm in Nanakuli, near Kila’s hometown. But there are seasonal shortages in winter, he says.
Wong and his wife, Pickoun Wong, who strings flowers together in the back of the store, have been renting the business for 18 years. They sell Thai orchids to give customers a cheaper option, especially when local flowers are limited.
Locals always prefer local flowers, says Monty Pereira, general manager of Watanabe Floral. But imported flowers help stretch limited local supplies, he says. One popular lei blends Hawaii-grown tuberose with imported carnations.
The Thailand-grown orchids also meet a demand for lei outside Hawaii, often from former residents who have moved to other states, he says.
Watanabe Floral is Hawaii’s biggest florist. It sells some 250,000 lei per year, accounting for about a quarter of its business, Pereira says.
He submitted testimony opposing Kila’s bill on purchasing parameters for state agencies, saying it could unintentionally reduce overall lei usage rather than strengthen the industry.

Restricting imported flowers could drive up the costs of lei, he says.
“If like 30 lei stands and florists are fighting for the same lei, that’s when lei is going to start to be US$100, US$150, US$200,” he says. Last Mother’s Day, a three-strand pikake lei was going for US$150.
And with the Trump administration’s tariffs, the Thailand orchid can now cost about as much as some local flowers, he says.
Pereira, who is native Hawaiian, worries that people are increasingly turning to lei made with candy or ribbons rather than flowers, a style especially common at graduations.
“The bigger threat is making it so expensive that the people of Hawaii cannot afford to enjoy something that’s culturally significant to us,” he says.


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That lei you got in Hawaii? The flowers probably came from Thailand

A woman wears a lei, a traditional floral adornment given to welcome visitors, celebrate milestones or honor someone’s achievements. Hawaiian lei are often made with imported flowers, sparking debate on supporting local growers to preserve their cultural significance. Photo: Getty Images

Lei hang at a shop in Honolulu’s Chinatown. Photo: AP

Darius Kila, a politician serving in the Hawaiian House of Representatives, is pictured wearing a lei during an interview at M.P. Lei Shop in Chinatown, Honolulu, in 2026. Photo: AP

Sam Say, owner of M.P. Lei Shop in Honolulu’s Chinatown, strings flowers to make a lei. Photo: AP

The custom of giving and wearing lei has always been associated with Hawaiian people, for whom the garlands represent love or the spirit of “aloha”. Photo: AP

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Travel & Leisure

Hawaiian lei are often made with Thai orchids. Now, lawmakers are pushing for a restriction on imported flowers – which could drive costs up


Hawaiian lei are often made with Thai orchids. Now, lawmakers are pushing for a restriction on imported flowers – which could drive costs up.


US travel

That lei you got in Hawaii? The flowers probably came from Thailand

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hawaiian lei are often made with Thai orchids. Now, lawmakers are pushing for a restriction on imported flowers – which could drive costs up

Hawaiian lei are often made with Thai orchids. Now, lawmakers are pushing for a restriction on imported flowers – which could drive costs up