Queen Lili'uokalani (Lydia Kamaka'eha Paki), the last ruling Hawaii monarch, once used the land on which this eponymous garden sits as a place to picnic. She gifted this land to the City and County of Honolulu and is buried at the Royal Mausoleum nearby on Nu'uanu Ave.
While both Foster Botanical Garden and Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden are steeped in history, Foster Botanical Garden is known for its Exceptional trees (an official City designation that they rightfully earn), cycads, orchids, ethnobotanical plantings, and palm collections, while this garden focuses on native plants. Among them, you will see koa, koai'a, ma'o, koki'o ke'oke'o, and loulu scattered throughout sweeping lawns that beckon picnickers to this day. Nu'uanu Stream runs through the property.
This garden is one of five botanical gardens on Oahu maintained by the City and County. The H1 freeway divides this garden from Foster Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to walk between the two and the freeway introduces substantial noise pollution to both.
If you visit, consider walking a block east to the corner of Nu'uanu and Kuakini. You will cross a historic bridge as you make your way to historic Kawananakoa Playground, one of several parks constructed on Oahu during the Great Depression of the 1930s as part of the national playground movement and possibly Roosevelt's New Deal program.