Foster, a native of Los Angeles County, California, developed a love for horticulture early in life.
Growing up on his family's avocado farm, he constructed his first lath house and began cultivating bonsai by age 12.
After working in the family insurance business, Foster partnered with his best friend, the horticulturist Charlie Glass, in 1968 to manage Abbey Garden Press and Nursery.
[1] Glass and Foster's shared passion for succulents led them on extensive expeditions.
Foster sold his collections in the early 1990s and moved the shell business to Bishop, California.