Kate Sessions worked to shape the landscape and gardens with carefully selected climate-appropriate trees and plants to ensure Balboa Park’s continue to flourish as a beautiful lush thriving botanical retreat today.
- Kate O. Sessions Cactus Garden – Developed for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, featuring large cacti, succulents, and exotic Protea plants.
- Old Cactus Garden – Another historic cactus garden developed under Sessions’ direction for the 1935 exposition, showcasing drought-tolerant plants.
- Tree Groves & Landscaped Areas – Sessions introduced acacias, palms, pines, eucalyptus, and Brazilian pepper trees, shaping the park’s forested spaces.
- Marston House Gardens – Sessions contributed to the landscaping around the Marston House, planting Canary Island Pines and other ornamental trees.
- Palm Canyon – Home to over 450 palm trees spanning 58 species, including Mexican Fan Palms planted under Sessions’ guidance in 1912.
- Cabrillo Canyon – Sessions cultivated San José Palms here, bringing seeds from Baja California to establish a thriving palm grove.
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