Save the Date....for Kate! Celebrate the 'Mother of Balboa Park'

Eucalyptus Bench Carving at the Marston House

You're Invited!  Kate Sessions Birthday Celebration   Saturday Nov. 10

Join in celebrating the birthday of one of San Diego's first tree-huggers and the person most responsible for turning Balboa Park into an urban oasis. This year Kate Sessions would be 155 years old and that calls for a party! Join us at the Marston House on Saturday, November 10, 11am-2pm to enjoy the festivities: Kate Sessions Birthday cake and brief program celebrating Kate Sessions       Discounted tours of the Marston House & Gardens Geranium Sales Walking tour of trees on west side by urban forester from Robin Rivet Center for Sustainable Energy Three organizations with strong ties to Kate Sessions and Balboa Park have joined together to create a fun-filled day: Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO),the San Diego Floral Association and Friends of Balboa Park. When - Saturday, November 10 · 11am - 2pm Where - Marston House & Gardens, 3525 7th Ave.   Parking - Free parking along Balboa Drive, Sixth Avenue, Upas and Thorn Streets Marston House We attended this event last year and can let you know that even with the spotty rain conditions, it was well worth it. Katherine Olivia "Kate" Sessions was an American botanist, horticulturalist, and landscape architect known as the "Mother of Balboa Park." In 1885, she purchased a nursery; within a few years she was the owner of a flower shop as well as growing fields and nurseries in Coronado, Pacific Beach and Mission Hills. She founded the Mission Hills Nursery in 1910 and sold it to her employees the Antonicelli brothers in 1926; and, it is still in operation today.  In 1892 Sessions struck a deal with the City of San Diego to lease 30 acres of land in Balboa Park (then called City Park) as her growing fields.  In return, she agreed to plant 100 trees a year in the mostly barren park, as well as 300 trees a year in other parts of San Diego.  This arrangement left the park with an array of cypress, pine, oak, pepper and eucalyptus which were grown in her gardens from seeds imported from around the world; virtually all of the older trees still seen in the park were planted by her. Among many other plant introductions, she is credited with importing and popularizing the jacaranda, now very familiar in the city. She also collected, propagated, and introduced many CA Natives to the horticulture trade and into gardens. In 1900, she took a trip to Baja CA to find a palm tree not native in San Diego to be planted at the park. She would also later take a seven-month trip through Europe where she collected multiple plant varieties that she eventually helped plant in the park.