Alright, look to your right-see that burst of greenery? That’s Foster Botanical Garden, downtown Honolulu’s version of a botanical time machine. This patch of paradise is 13.5 acres, sandwiched between strip malls, old temples, and a tangle of city streets. If Oahu’s gardens were siblings, Foster would be the wise oldest child-because this is the oldest botanical garden in Hawaii.
But toss out any ideas about sugar plantations or palm-tree monotony. This spot has seen pretty much everything. Back in 1853, Queen Kalama-yes, *that* Kalama-leased the land to Dr. William Hillebrand. He was a German doctor with a passion for plants... and apparently, introducing mynah birds and deer to Hawaii. Some of the towering trees you see on the Upper Terrace? He planted those himself, just hoping his German neighbors back home wouldn’t notice he was having a much better time.
Next, the Fosters took over. Thomas Foster and his wife Mary settled in, treating the place as both home and experiment. When Mary died in 1930, her will-written with the kind of confidence you only have if you own your own slice of Eden-instructed the city to “forever keep and maintain” the gardens. Her legacy? A gift that-if you tried to estimate in today’s dollars-would easily be worth several million.
Now, today, you can zigzag between different worlds just walking the paths. There’s an Economic Garden with herbs, spices, and poisons-so, you know, the full range of kitchen and supervillain needs. There’s the Prehistoric Glen, full of primeval plants that look like they could’ve tripped up a T-Rex. And orchids-thanks to Dr. Harold Lyon-by the thousands.
Look for the Sacred Fig tree: it’s a distant relative of the original Bodhi tree, the same kind Buddha sat under. That Bodhi tree’s grandchild found its way here thanks to a Sri Lankan Buddhist at the turn of the twentieth century. Serious spiritual roots-literally.
There’s even a statue honoring Japanese immigration, a memorial stone remembering Pearl Harbor, and abstract art hidden between the palms. Foster Botanical Garden: where you’ll find 25 “exceptional” trees. And in my book, “exceptional” doesn’t even quite cover it. Take your time to wander. In this urban jungle, the plants have been here longer than most of the city-and they’re definitely dressed for the occasion.
