So many of us have a very practical, but not very pretty, chain-link fence around our yard. Let’s view this as an opportunity to plant some flowers!

Flowering plants grow best in full sun. They need good drainage. Vines like pakalana and stephanotis need to grow up a sturdy support — chain link fences are ideal. (You can also weld a nice sturdy, decorative trellis, or make one out of stakes and wire.)

I also like to mix in vegetables, such as string beans and Chinese peas, and fruits, like lilikoi, on my fence. They look pretty together, and they attract and feed such pollinators as bees and butterflies.

Buy some 6-inch pots of the flowering vines and plant them in your garden. First, get rid of the weeds. Then dig a planting hole twice as wide as the pot and exactly as deep. Plant the root ball at the same depth in the ground as it was in the pot. Water thoroughly but gently every day until the plant is well established.

Stephanotis (pua male) and pakalana can also be grown from cuttings, but it is difficult for most home gardeners, so support your local nursery and garden shop and buy several plants to adorn your fence.

Both flowers bloom fragrantly in summer, and pakalana makes an epic lei or hair decor. Perfect for a summer bride like my niece (Tiana) or graduates (Noelle and Rachel) or a birthday (Amanda), and welcome home Karlene!

My sister Mimi made two strands of pakalana lei for my mom’s birthday, and I made her my favorite mixed lei — two kinds of plumeria, stephanotis and pua kenikeni. They kept so well.

I always like to refer to my friend Laurie Shimizu Ide’s lei books about how to keep lei fresh to wear again. Most lei should be gently sprinkled with water, placed in a plastic bag in the fridge to wear on another occasion. But not pua kenikeni. Never put pua kenikeni in the fridge, it will just melt and rot.

For pua kenikeni, bag the lei, add some air to the plastic bag, tie a knot and float it on a basin of water somewhere cool and shady.

None of these favorite flowers are native to Hawaii, yet they have Hawaiian names because we love them so much and they are such a cherished part of modern Hawaii.

Pua kenikeni is from Polynesia, pakalana is from China, pua male is from Madagascar and plumeria are native to Mexico, though many plumeria hybrids were developed in Hawaii from the three original colors of the flower.

Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidibornhorst@gmail.com.