A few years back, the Hawaiian Civic Club had a meeting on the grassy mauka terrace lawn, under the venerable trees of Foster Botanical Garden. The food was 'ono, na 'olelo Hawai'i was floating softly and sweetly through the oxygen-rich air freshened by the trees, the murmur of the freeway softened by the leafy boughs of old-time big trees and palms.

After the meetings, mele, speeches and lunch, some of us took a little tour of Mary Foster's garden. As we walked under the deep shade, we admired some of the Foster favorites: the Bo or Bodhi tree, a gift from Sri Lanka, via India; the biggest chicle, or "chewing gum" tree, in the U.S.; the amazing fat-trunked quipo tree from South America and its African cousin the baobab, or upside-down tree.

"Too bad she didn't have any keiki of her own other than the plants and trees and Galapagos tortoises that once roamed through her garden, a niece or nephew atop their broad warm reptile backs," I remarked to the group.

Late famed canoe builder Wright Bowman Jr. looked thoughtful for a moment and remarked, "Nah, Heidi — good thing. If she had kids, they would have fought over the land, divided it up and it would all be high-rises and shopping centers now, instead of this wonderful, peaceful garden."

I have thought of his words quite a bit since then. The garden lives on, and what a blessing it is in so many ways.

We need green. We need trees and plants to survive. And more than that, we need every symbol of peace on earth that we can grasp in our grubby, greedy self-preserving little hands.

What a visionary Foster was — sure wish I had known her. (Some people think I'm old enough to have!) Sometimes I feel I do know her and that she's happy as we stroll and loll around in her gardens.

Another remarkable person, Harold Lyon, helped persuade Foster to endow and give her garden to the people of O'ahu, with certain akamai stipulations — the main one being that if lolo decide to not let Foster Botanical Garden be public, it will revert to her heirs. And there are many of them!

A celebration of Foster and her garden is becoming an annual tradition around her birthday. This Hawaiian woman is not well-known today, though her garden is.

The program will open with taiko drums under the famed Bo tree, Ficus religiosa, which was a special gift to Foster. There will also be hula, Asian dancing, refreshments and guided tours of the original Foster garden.

Expert garden historians Ruth Gay and Jeremy Bush will lead the tours. Noenoe Zuttermeister will dance the hula "Beautiful Kahana" (the ahupua'a that includes Kahana Valley is another place forested, fished and farmed by Native Hawaiians, and saved and nurtured by Foster). Manu Aluli Meyer, who will be here from Hilo, will end the program with an 'oli mahalo.

A sale of Hawaiian plants will include the new plumeria "Mary Robinson Foster," hibiscus "Mary Foster," as well as Hawaiian ferns and colorful, hybridized-in-Hawai'i ti plants.

The new plumeria variety, hybridized by horiculturist and garden supporter Jim Little, is a big, hot-pink blossom. He says it's a seedling of the old variety called "plastic pink."

"It's a good hot-pink plumeria with a big flower and open, winged petals, extremely attractive in the landscape," says Little. "The tree is a strong robust grower with real nice color and a mild fragrance to the flower."

A fitting tribute to Mary Foster.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable-landscape consultant. Submit questions to: Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; or islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com. Letters may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.