Betty Ikehara is old enough to remember taking trips to different parts of the island to gather flowers and the other materials needed to make lei. But with so much more of Oahu’s land taken over by development in recent years, flowers and plants are not as easily accessible or as plentiful.

Those "safari days" are few and far between for lei makers like Ikehara, 77, who is often seen with a small straw hat perched atop her head, a lush garland resting on its brim.

Despite the obstacles, she remains devoted to her craft of creating lovely lei sourced from her own verdant yard in Kaneohe and other gardens. Ikehara’s finely made lei are said to have a look and technique so distinctive that people will sometimes ask, "Is that a Betty lei?" when spotting someone wearing one of her creations.

She dutifully makes fresh lei every couple of weeks for Hawaiian entertainer Mihana Souza and the Puamana singing group, and in years past for Souza’s mother, the late Irmgard Aluli. The master lei maker has also been a judge for the city’s Lei Day contest for more than 40 years, and is a tireless instructor and advocate for the Hawaiian craft.

On a recent weekday morning, a handful of people gathered in one of the cozy meeting rooms on the grounds of Hoo­malu­hia Botanical Garden in Kaneohe to learn the basics of making lei poo (head lei) using the wili, or winding, method, using plants and flowers commonly found in home gardens.

The instructors are Ikehara; Emily Deai, who learned lei making from Ikehara; Joyce Spoehr, a recreation specialist for the city’s botanical gardens; Department of Parks and Recreation retiree Joyce Chinen; and Auntie Ethel Kahili, a longtime lei maker who has her own booth at the Lei Day Celebration at Kapiolani Park.

"The Kahili family name is well known in the lei-making community," Chinen said. "You name any style, she does it."

Other popular lei making techniques are hili (braiding and plaiting a single plant material), humu­papa (sewing materials to a backing fiber or other foundation) and kui (stringing).

For the wili method, Ikehara uses a backing of ti leaf, lau hala or dried banana bark, covering it one small section at a time with flowers, ferns and greens secured with braided strands of raffia fibers.

Raffia was not plentiful when Ikehara first started making lei, so to this day she uses a sturdy dark thread instead.

Her initial inspiration came "as a youngster living in a plantation community in upcountry Hilo, watching teenagers making these long leis. Lei making came easy to me because I like flowers," she said.

After graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1956, Ikehara went straight to work for the city Parks and Recreation Department. She taught her first lei class about 10 years later at the Kailua Recreation Center and has been at it ever since.

One thing Ikehara’s learned from her years of experience is that "even though we work with the same material, each lei maker has a different style." She sees it in the beginner students in the class, who are working with ferns and a colorful array of bougainvillea, carnations and chrysanthemums.

"Nobody can tell you you’re not correct."

In truth, some lei are better made than others, but even if she sees a person out and about proudly wearing his or her own creation — maybe not as tightly wound as it should be, a stray flower sticking out here and there — Ikehara said the lei maker should still be proud of their work.

"It’s up to you to practice and develop your own style," she said. "Some have a good hand from the beginning. But you gotta pro­gress. Obviously, I cannot teach in one class what I’ve learned over 50 years."

IKEHARA admits it takes longer to find the right materials for a lei than the actual lei making. She encourages her students to use any spare ground around their homes for planting flowers and shrubs suitable for lei, if not for themselves then for the rest of the community.

"Plant a lehua tree at least," she said. "You can use everything, the fluffy flowers, the leaves, but it needs a lot of water and sun. It grows easy on the Big Island."

Ikehara’s face visibly brightens when she talks about her life’s work.

"I just like to see anyone making and wearing lei," she said. "It’s always been an enjoyable activity, even when I was younger and during graduation time I would make 40 to 50 lei over a four-day period. But I notice in my old age, I want to take the time out to enjoy making my own lei and say, ‘Oh, look how pretty the colors are.’

"It’s been a good life with flowers."