Planters and Garden Ornaments

Throughout the Pacific Islands, giant clam shells have long been used to decorate gardens and gravesides. This practice remains so common in the Pacific that it hardly warrants a description. This is perhaps the most common use for giant clam shells on islands where the animals occur. After all, what island yard, garden or path would not look better if surrounded by a neat curbing of giant clam shells? It surely makes more sense than painting rocks white, a curious American custom.

If tridacnid shells are destined to be used as garden ornaments, there is really no need to go overboard in cleaning them. Exposing them to the sun and rain for a few weeks provides results that should be more than adequate for outdoor use.

However, chemical bleaching may be desirable for more elaborate creations. The MMDC staff developed a lovely T. derasa shell planter (Figure 27) nested in a simple macramé sling.

The planter hung from the MMDC gift shop ceiling beside the sales counter. Each morning, we placed fresh red hibiscus blossoms in the planter. We had no way of knowing if the presence of these fresh flowers increased sales in the shop, but judging by the number of compliments on the planter, we don't doubt that customers appreciated this touch. Fresh flowers, along with the polished marble floor of the shop, the richly stained wood interior and the spectacular “living wall” of reef tanks, were just one more subtle way to send the message “This is an upscale shop; expect merchandise to be priced accordingly.”

The shell used in the planter was simply a large T. derasa prepared as though it were being used as a salad bowl. The macramé sling was bought for about $1 at a shop called Betty's Imports, a large wholesaler of gift items in Waikiki. The planter sold for $9.95 retail in Palau and would undoubtedly fetch two to three times that retail price in Waikiki.