Foster Botanical Garden

Oahu, HI Print   Leave a comment

Description

Whenever I'm in downtown Honolulu, and I want to fill my senses with some beauty, I go to Foster Botanical Garden. There I find beautiful lawns dotted with unique trees, a minty delicious herb garden, orchid displays that remind me of feelings of delight on Easter morning, a huge banyan tree where kids can run and hide, a Cannonball Tree that makes me giggle, and a little white gazebo where artists sometimes sit and draw.
It's a small and easy place to tackle- only 13 acres- and guarantees to refresh you and give you back your perspective that life is full of treats. Ask for the flyer of birds to spot- it kept my little one busy while she looked for the different birds in the trees!
If you walk out the parking lot, you can pop into Kuan Yim Temple, a Buddhist temple with an attractive tiled roof and tropical plants. It is a temple to the goddess and protectress of mothers and children, but I was a bit disappointed that her statue didn't look as pretty as other statues I have seen of her around the world. 
You can read about the history of Foster Botanical Gardens on plaques. Dr. Hillebrand, who lived in a cottage on the main lawn which he rented from Queen Kalama, was a German physician and botanist who came to Hawaii in 1850 to seek a better climate for his health. During the twenty years he lived in Hawaii he traveled to Asia and brought back plants: camphor, kapok, earpod, kauri, cinnamon, mandarins, lychee, jackfruit, and banyans. After Dr. Hillebrand and his family went back to Germany, Thomas R. Foster, a shipbuilder who created Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company which later became what is now Hawaiian Airlines, built a grand house on the main lawn. He stood in the tall tower of the house to see his ships a kilometer away in Honolulu Harbor. His wife, Mary, was a Buddhist believer who donated to many Buddhist endeavors, and was given the Bo tree that you can see in Foster Gardens today, a decendant of the tree that the Buddha sat under when he reached enlightenment. 
By the gift shop in the front, you can see ballast stones. These were brought to weigh down ships from China. Once the ships reached Honolulu. the ballast stones were discarded and the ships were filled with sandalwood to bring back home for temple incense. 
For a nice spot in downtown Honolulu to eat and walk around at night, check out Aloha Tower. For some history check out Iolani Palace in the beautiful Capitol District.
If you love gardens, you will also like the Japanese Garden at UH Manoa. What a peaceful spot! And it's free. When you leave the islands, be sure to enjoy the Cultural Gardens at Honolulu Airport, accessible from the main terminal!

Photo Gallery

These ballast stones were used to balance the ships that sailed from Hawaii to China carrying sandalwood in the early 1800s.	Some lovely tree roots and a bench, outside Foster Botanical Garden.	Foster Botanical Garden is paradise!
The pretty gazebo.	The trees are amazing- this one looks like it could talk to you in a fairy tale. Notice the person standing beside it to see how HUGE it is!	Notice the park benches to see how large these Travelers Trees are.
The Sausage Tree- I love this one! This gourd-like fruit is as long as your forearm. The Cannonball Tree is in the background.	The cannonballs on the Cannonball Tree! This tree is native to Guiana.	A purple orchid.
A passionfruit vine growing near the herb garden.	A date palm and some herbs below it.	Collard Greens grown like a tree!
The peaceful herb garden. The Lemon Balm smells soooo good!	Flowers at the Foster Botanical Garden.	Oregano.
A little tomato plant in the herb garden. Makes you hungry for a salad!	The Mindanao Gum from New Guinea. The colors on its trunk are gorgeous. This tree is a giant!	I love the leaves of this large plant.
Orchids.	Don't miss the orchid garden, hidden in a shed on the south side of the park.	The Baobab Tree has such lovely lines on its trunk.
Like an elephants foot, the trunk of the Baobab Tree. This tree is so huge that in Central Africa its hollow trunk is sometimes used as a house, prison or water reservoir.	A peaceful spot by the Daibutsu Terrace in the Foster Botanical Garden.	The hot pink flowers of the Pink Shaving Brush Tree! These are stunning!
Flowers of the Pink Shaving Brush Tree. See the lichen on the rock- lichen is when a mold takes a likin' to an algae!	This tree is a stunner! It's branches seem to stretch out endlessly!	You have to see this tree in real life to understand how wide its trunk is!
Pandanus Trees at Foster Botanical Gardens.	Giant tree in the distance.	Ficus Rumphii, a Banyan tree from Indonesia.
Banyan tree.	Lettuce Tree, from Madagascar or Polynesia.	Palm grove catching the mid-morning light.
Palm leaves catching the sun.	Skinny palms reaching the blue Hawaiian sky.	Cannonball tree! Watch out for falling cannonballs!
Looking up at amazing tropical plants.	Fruit.	Silk Cotton, or Kapok tree, from Tropical Asia. Amazing!
Baobab tree.	Lawn and huge trees.	A gecko with cute toes!
Banana-colored orchids.	Orchids!	Orchids in the little conservatory.
Orchids in the conservatory.	Beautiful Butterflies sculpture.	Red blooming tree.
Kariya tree, from W. Tropical Africa.	Tall, thick trunk of an amazing tree.	Looking up at an amazing tree.
The lovely green roof of Kuan Yin Temple. Walk over for a visit. Kuan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy, special protectress of mothers and children.	Cuban Royal Palm.	Red lantern at Kuan Yim Temple.
Tiled ceiling on the patio at Kuan Yim Temple.	Fishtail palms outside Kuan Yim Temple.	Lush vegetation around Kuan Yim Temple.
The gift shop and a magical tree outside Foster Botanical Garden.	Tiled ceiling on the patio at Kuan Yim Temple.	Bird of Paradise flower.
Huge tree in the distance, and pandanus palm.	This tree is huge!	Looking up at a gorgeous African tree.
Tree and mossy stone.	Spiky tree trunk.	Palm grove.
Looking up at skinny palms.	Sausage tree.	The lawn. I love Hawaii!
Bottlebrush from Australia.	The skinny palms.	Tropical plant.
Red cardinal bird on the lawn.	Fan-like palm.	Pandanus palms.
Buddha sculpture.	Peaceful Buddha sculpture.	Purple orchid in the conservatory.
Orange orchid in the conservatory.	White orchid.	Baobab tree.
Ballast stones and tropical flower catching the light.	Fishtail palms outside the temple.

Directions

Foster Botanical Garden is located at 180 N. Vineyard Blvd, Honolulu HI 96817, call (808) 522-7060.
From H1 Westbound, take the Vineyard Blvd exit. The driveway to the gardens is on your right after you pass Nuuanu Ave. There is plenty of parking.
$5 to enter, $1 for kids.

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

Overall Visitor Rating:

heidi 07/30/2010 10:55	Your pics are always brilliant :-)))
KImberly R 10/22/2009 20:09	Have visited twice and abslolutely loved it!!