The Foster Botanical Garden has restarted its free guided tours after stopping them in March of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 90-minute, docent-led tours run rain or shine. Tours start at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“We are so thrilled to once again offer these tours to the public!” said Joshlyn Sand, director of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens, which includes Foster Botanical Garden, in a written statement. “Our dedicated and educated volunteers underwent six weeks of training to get them ready to share the garden’s ‘ike (knowledge). Much like the changing landscape at the garden, and the diverse volunteers guiding these garden journeys, no two tours are alike. We encourage you to enjoy the tours whenever you stop by the garden, and experience Foster Botanical Garden from a variety of perspectives.”
The Honolulu Botanical Gardens consist of five gardens: Koko Crater Botanical Garden, Foster Botanical Garden, Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden, Liliʻuokalani Botanical Garden and Wahiawā Botanical Garden. The gardens are administered by the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Parks and Recreation and Division of Urban Forestry.
Foster Botanical Garden opened in 1931. The 14-acre garden is home to more than 20 exceptional trees as defined by The Exceptional Tree Act, passed in 1975. There is also a Corpse Flower, which smells like rotting flesh and last bloomed in July of 2024.
Admission includes guided tours and is $3 for kamaʻāina and $5 for visitors. Keiki ages 6 to 12 years old can enjoy the park for $1. Children younger than 6 years old can enter free.
Reservations for guided tours are recommended. To reserve a tour, email hbg@honolulu.gov or call (808) 768-7135. Walk-in visitors can participate in tours, if space allows. Accommodations for the guided tours are available with advance notice.
Foster Botanical Garden restarted its tours on Jan. 3, said Noël Dora Chilton, a recreation specialist and volunteer coordinator for Honolulu Botanical Gardens. Chilton spoke with Aloha State Daily about the garden, tours and what to see on your next visit.
What are three things visitors should see at the gardens? Well there's all kinds of amazing plants and trees to visit. Probably [one of] the most notable ones is the Bodhi tree, which is straight in front of you as you enter. It has historical importance because it is a cutting of a cutting of the tree under which Buddha is said to have gained enlightenment. It was brought to the garden by Mary Foster, who bears the name of the garden. She was, later in life, very fond of [and] a philanthropist for Buddhism and spirituality in general. That tree has significance, historically and culturally.
Another one is the Baobab, the African tree, which is in the Daibutsu Garden off to your right as you enter the garden. It's a large tree from Africa. Large is an understatement. It’s a massive tree that has multiple uses. In Africa, because it is hollow inside, they use it sometimes for rooms, like a post office or a library. It has some pretty amazing dangling fruits that are fuzzy, so it has a nickname of dead rat tree. It's a pretty wild one. And then maybe my third favorite tree — not in priority because it's one of my most favorite trees — is the Cannonball Tree. It's from South America, and it's straight back as you enter the garden. There are two of them, actually. Both of them have large fruits that give it its name, because they're large and heavy. ... And the flowers are pretty amazing. They're pink and yellow and white and other worldly.
How do volunteers train to give guided tours? Back in September, we recruited a great cohort of 25 docents. I'd say 10 of them were returning docents from before the pandemic. The rest were new. We went through a six-week intensive training with guest speakers on staff plus contributions from the Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens, so we covered a lot of material. ... Everybody got a pretty in depth immersion into the garden and all aspects of it from the botanist, from the horticulturist, from the orchid specialist, from the director, and so they're pretty informed. But as you can imagine, there are thousands of plants on the property, and so it's somewhat intimidating for the new docents to branch out on their own. So we did some some shadowing, and a few brave newbies have started leading their own tours, and some of the returning docents have been regularly leading tours.
Tell us about the guided tours. What people can expect is a highly individualized guided tour. Every tour is different, because every day you come is probably going to be guided by a different docent. Everybody brings in their own background. We have some that are especially interested and knowledgeable about medicinal plants. Some are especially knowledgeable about history. And some of them have a connection to a certain geographic part of the world and can speak about the culture and customs related to that plant in relation to geography. It's an eclectic mix of perspectives, and they're all really interesting and great. And a whole variety of styles of presentation too, from exuberant to quiet and reserved. It's worth going multiple times. The tours generally last an hour and a half and and most of the docents follow a clockwise rotation around the garden, but some mix it up a little bit. Everyone also takes advantage of what's seasonal. ... The garden is so dynamic that it's different all the time, so the docents really incorporate that in their tour too.
Learn more about the gardens, or volunteer.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
