Foster Botanical Garden

 

20

56

Hannah K.

San Francisco, CA

Pros: Not crowded. Lots of shade. Very cool trees -- cannonball (there is cannonball-looking fruit hanging from vines off the tree), sausage (sausage-looking fruit), chicle, and a GIANT tree called quipo.

Cons: Did not go at the right time and were no flowers (late August). Too bad.

Overall, I wish I went when the trees were flowering. Otherwise, very cool way to spend some time away from the beach.

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Elite '08

129

520

D.J. Y.

Shoreline, WA

Pure and simple, no tourist buses or long lines to wait to get in.  Plenty to see and enjoy in the middle of downtown Honolulu!!  My cousin who took me has lived all her life on Oahu and didn't even know about this treasure!

It would be a great place to picnic, take plate lunch and chill.  I can't remember the fee to get in but it was well worth the low entrance fee, best deal in all the islands that for sure.

Take your camera as there are TONS of photo ops, plenty to see and can be done in an hour and a half if you are in a rush.

Many don't realize this top notch quality gem, if you do you should help support it!!

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Elite '08

119

76

christa w.

HI

i saw the most amazing canonball tree i've ever seen here (check the pics) and the scariest nastiest biggest centepede i've ever seen as well.

oh. and i got to eat a pomegranite.

best place to waste the early morning hours in hawaii. hands down.

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Elite '08

357

359

JayChan H.

Malibu, CA

Fosters is that little jewel that you would never know about unless someone told you it was there. This used to be the most amazing place in the city for a quite getaway. Although over the years the place has been somewhat neglected by the city now that it is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department,  Foster Gardens still has one of the most amazing collection of orchids. Most everything is right out in the open, only a few of the rarer specimens are kept in "cages". I recommend spending at least two hours milling about looking for the hidden treasures. Our last few visits we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  I understand that this is because the tour busses like to go where they can get kickbacks from the vendors...no such luck here. Purchasing some mosquito repellent before you get there will make a longer stay more bearable after all you are going to be with nature! Take a camera, a deep breath and remember to wander slowly!

Mini History:
Foster Garden traces its beginning to 1853 when Queen Kalama leased a small area of land to William Hillebrand, a young German doctor. A botanist as well as a physician, he and his wife built a home in the upper terrace area of the present garden. The magnificent trees which now tower over this area were planted by him. After twenty years in Hawaii, he returned to Germany and produced the excellent botanic treatise, Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888).
The Hillebrand property was later sold to Thomas (Captain) and Mary Foster who added to it and continued to develop the garden. Upon Mrs. Foster's death in 1930, the 5.5 acre site was bequeathed to the City and County of Honolulu as a public garden. The Foster Botanical Garden opened to the public on November 30, 1931, with Dr. Harold Lyon as its first director. Over a span of 27 years, Dr. Lyon introduced 10,000 new kinds of trees and plants to Hawaii. The Foster Garden orchid collection was started with Dr. Lyon's own plants.
Through purchases by the City and gifts from individuals, under the directorship of Paul R. Weissich (1957-89), Foster Garden expanded to over 13.5 acres. In addition to being a pleasant place to visit, Foster Botanical Garden is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered, which have been collected from throughout the world's tropics over a period of 150 years.

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