The genesis of Foster Garden can be traced back to when Queen Kalama leased William Hillebrand a small tract of land in 1853. Hillebrand,a German, was both a physician and botanist. All of the magnificent varieties of trees that now tower above the whole locale had been planted by Dr. hillebrand between the years of 1854-1874, before leaving Hawaii and returning to Germany.
His property was eventually sold to Captain Thomas Foster and his wife Mary who proceeded to continue developing and adding to the garden. However in 1930 Mrs. Foster passed away and bequeathed the gardens to the County and City of Honolulu to be used as public gardens.
The Foster Botanical Garden was opened on November 30, 1931 and introduced no less than 10,000 new varieties of plants and trees to Hawaii over a 27-year duration of time. Besides being a wonderful destination to visit, the Botanical Garden is literally a living museum consisting of tropical plants, some of which are endangered or rare and have been harvested form tropical forests the whole world round for over 150 years.
What To Check Out
Admission Information
Hawaii residents over 13 years old–$3.00
General admission, 13 and up–$5.00
Children under 5–FREE
Children 6 to12 years old–$1.00
Annual family passes–$25.00
Garden Hours
Open daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Closed for New Year’s and Christmas. Guided tours available Monday through Saturday beginning at 1:00 pm. It would be beneficial to make reservations however, because guided tours they are based upon volunteer docents availability.
