The Big Island's garden center since 1987

How Rozett’s Nursery began

John and Donna Rozett met through mutual friends in Hawai’i in the late 1970s, while John was studying tropical horticulture at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo. He’d come to the Big Island in 1976, drawn by tropical plants he’d only seen as houseplants on the mainland. After graduating, John was hired as the first full-time employee at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook — the on-site horticulturist who helped design the garden. He and Donna married in 1982. They spent a few years on the mainland — John ran the fern production house at Nurseryman’s Exchange in California — but they missed Hawai’i and came back. John took a job as the first manager of Kalief Hawai’i Foliage Growers and got involved with the Hawai’i Export Nursery Association.

In 1985 they bought this corner of HPP. John eventually left Kalief to start the palm side of the business, relocating, and removing full-grown palm trees across the island, while Donna built the nursery. By 1987 they were open to the public, running monthly plant sales out of the property. Customers kept stopping in between sale days, so they opened a portion of the nursery for everyday retail and never went back.

The next generation

Donna and John’s sons, Ian and Colin Rozett, grew up in the rows — learning by watching their parents work. Both are working horticulturists, and today they run the nursery alongside Ian’s wife, Crystal Rozett. Lyla Rozett, Colin’s wife, organizes the weekly Saturday Market and sells her handmade jewelry there. The work hasn’t changed: help Hawai’i Island gardeners figure out what to plant, why, and how to make it thrive.

“Folks with the grow-how, know-how” — John Rozett

How we work with you

Plants don’t read landscape plans. They respond to light, water, soil, and your microclimate — and Hawai’i Island has a lot of all four. We don’t tell customers what to plant. We ask questions: what direction does the spot face, what’s drainage like, what have you tried, what do you want to look at every morning, where are you located on the island.

“Your home landscape should reflect your own personal aesthetics, not mine. We answer your questions with questions — and try to awaken the genius within you.” — John Rozett

A few things we believe

Plants belong to a place. Bromeliads from Brazil, palms from Madagascar, fruit trees from Southeast Asia — they all adapt differently to Hawai’i’s unique climate. The best plant for your yard isn’t always the prettiest one in the catalog.

Knowledge gets passed down. John’s tropical-horticulture training carried into how Ian and Colin were raised — both had their own corner of the nursery from ages four and five, propagating plants in their play area. Now they’re running the place, with Crystal alongside, and passing the work forward.

Come walk the nursery

Open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by, or give us a call.