The gardens were established by UH-Hilo professor Don Hemmes at some time in the 1980s, after a student said that they had never seen a pine tree before.
The gardens contain one of Hawaiʻi's best cycad collections, with 126 species from Africa, China, North and Central America, and Australia. It also contains an international collection of palm trees, and all five 5 species of Big Island Pritchardia. Since the gardens are located in a windward area of the university campus, they get a substantial amount of rain.