First, a little geography. The Islands of Hawaii are made up of rock. Solid, hard, rock that goes from mountaintop to bottom of the ocean. On top of that rock sits Hawaii’s lush rain forests, home to fauna and flora from all over the world. A garden. See where this is going? Rock? Garden?

Fauna and Flora are not Filipino twins from missionary days who brought seeds and seedling with them from the US, Asia, or Europe. Although, in a way, that’s exactly what happened.

Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.

Floral heritage in Hawaii is remarkably abundant and much of it is unique. It’s been estimated that 90-percent of native species here do not grow anywhere else on the earth. If you’ve ever taken a bite out of a sweet Maui pineapple or forked into a Molokai watermelon, well, you know what we mean.

Honolulu, of course, is the home to an abundance of fauna and flora. We’ll focus discussion here because the twins are easier to see within the confines of Honolulu and Oahu.

So, what makes up a Hawaiian garden? OK, forget about the rock part. All of Hawaii is made of rock. We start with that first, then move to dirt (it’s very good here), and then to the more garden-like aspects of the discussion.

Think of the first Polynesian settlers who arrived on Hawaii’s shores centuries ago. They brought with them seedlings, plants, seeds, and everything they’d need to grow their own food in the new world (well, it was new to them).

Immigrants from Europe and the US did the same. More seeds beget more plants. Drop into the rich volcanic soil and simply spat upon, almost any seed except doubt will take root and grow.

And grow they did.

A Hawaiian garden these days consists of up to 800 exotic species (no, Hula dancers don’t qualify as exotic species; erotic, perhaps). And, like the people of Hawaii, a local garden is a composite of many strains.

Here’s a quick tour around Honolulu of some of the more exotic gardens.

Lyon Arboretum
A delightful, organized 124-acre garden that looks unorganized (it’s a plant thing; the more unorganized it looks, the better organized it is—so says a landkeeper at Lyon). Lyon specializes in hybridization and have introduced a dozen dozen hybrids into the world. This arboretum is nestled deep into Manoa Valley but is a mere 20-minutes from Waikiki.

Foster Botanical Garden
Some names won’t keep you up at night. Foster Garden (the local folks drop “botanical”—two many syllables) is over a century old and was originally planted by the Royal Physician at the time, a notorious Dr. Hillebrand. The Garden is on the outskirts of downtown Honolulu and is easily accessible by city bus. It’s only 20-acres, but contains nearly 4,000 tropical species (again, no Hula dancers! Please!).

Moanalua Gardens
You’ll spend plenty of time of The Bus getting here, but it’s really just 10-minutes from downtown Honolulu by car. Moanalua Gardens is private but open to the public. The real treat here is that the Gardens are nice, but the valley behind the Gardens is great. Fabulous. You’d think you were in the Amazon, expect for the lack of a river and snakes (no snakes in Hawaii, politicians not withstanding). The valley also contains ancient petroglyphs.

Summary: Hawaii has an abundance of plants of all species. Some are conveniently located in carefully cared for gardens which are easy to view.

Lyon Arboretum
3860 Manoa Road
808-988-0456

Foster Botanical Garden
50 North Vineyard Boulevard
808-522-7065

Moanalua Gardens
1352 Pineapple Place
808-833-1944

Pros: Easy to get to, many species to view, fascinating.

Cons: Mosquitos.

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