Tropic Isle Silks

If you are looking for really good silk plants or flowers — especially rare ones and Hawaiiana (palm trees, bamboo, banana trees, bromeliads, protea, orchids, heliconia, ginger, pineapple, lotus, etc…), this is a great place to get them. They are high quality plants — they look really realistic & I saw some of the prettiest artifical trees I have ever seen when I went in the store today. Accordingly, the prices are more expensive than cheap quality floral supplies, so do expect a quality plant at a reasonable price. By the time you order plants from online and add shipping in, there really isn’t much markup to the prices here, and you get to see the product in person before purchasing it, so I would definitely purchase or order my plants here in the future. Furthermore, Richard is kind and helpful & very personable. This is where many of the hotels, interior designers, and other businesses get their plants. I will go back next time I need silk plants.
Incidentally, the parking along Beretania was fine during rush hour on a weekday when I went, but it is metered parking, so take a quarter or two to feed meters. There seemed to be an off-​street parking lot with a couple of spaces, but it was a couple of storefronts up the street, so I didn’t know if it would be okay to park there. Not too bad of parking, all in all.

Richard is the goofiest guy that you’ll meet who isn’t crazy.
We entered the store to buy some silk flowers to make a floral arrangement for a gift only to find a rainforest of trees and plants. On the right side, there is a wall of cubbyholes full of silk flower replicas of those that can be found in Hawaii.
Suddenly, a voice from nowhere boomed, «You guys need help or just nosing?» «Just nosing,» we replied. The silk flower god followed with, «My prices are better than most stores. If you can’t find it, I have a catalog of everything that you can ever think of. I’m also psychic and I think I answered the questions you had.»
We laughed. The guy was spot on. What we didn’t realize was how expensive silk flowers can be. They’re almost the same price as the reals except they last forever.
Then Richard went on until the cuckoo jumped out of the clock to tell us how uncanny the people are who come in looking for pakalolo plants and how popular these plants are. He warns them that it’s not the real thing, that the plastic leaves shouldn’t be smoked, and not to walk around in public with the plant exposed, etc. Even old ladies who have no clue what pakalolo is seem to be attracted to the five-​leaf plant. I suppose it can be easily confused with fern. Not really.
We ended up buying nothing from Richard, but we now know where to find some friendly forever young house plants next time we’re searching for that kind of gift.