Kate Sessions was already a nationally recognized horticulturist by the time she established the Pacific Beach nursery that became closely associated with her later years.
Sessions came to San Diego to teach at the Russ School. In 1885, she joined Solon and Clara Blaisdell in purchasing the San Diego Nursery. The partnership dissolved in 1887, and Sessions took over its operation. She later operated nurseries in Coronado, City Park, Mission Hills, and Pacific Beach, as well as a flower shop downtown.
Sessions also operated a downtown flower shop, adding another part to her horticultural business. She eventually sold the shop to Alice Rainford in 1909 so she could concentrate on her nursery work. Rainford had begun working for Sessions in 1898 and continued operating the shop after taking it over.
The flower shop gives another glimpse of the breadth of Sessions’ work. She was not simply growing plants; she was also selling flowers and serving San Diego customers through a downtown retail business. Sessions also operated a downtown flower shop, adding another part to her horticultural business. She eventually sold the shop to Alice Rainford in 1909 so she could concentrate on her nursery work. Rainford had begun working for Sessions in 1898 and continued operating the shop after taking it over.
The flower shop gives another glimpse of the breadth of Sessions’ work. She was not simply growing plants; she was also selling flowers and serving San Diego customers through a downtown retail business. Sessions also operated a downtown flower shop, adding another part to her horticultural business. She eventually sold the shop to Alice Rainford in 1909 so she could concentrate on her nursery work. Rainford had begun working for Sessions in 1898 and continued operating the shop after taking it over.
The flower shop gives another glimpse of the breadth of Sessions’ work. She was not simply growing plants; she was also selling flowers and serving San Diego customers through a downtown retail business. Sessions also operated a downtown flower shop, adding another part to her horticultural business. She eventually sold the shop to Alice Rainford in 1909 so she could concentrate on her nursery work. Rainford had begun working for Sessions in 1898 and continued operating the shop after taking it over.
The flower shop gives another glimpse of the breadth of Sessions’ work. She was not simply growing plants; she was also selling flowers and serving San Diego customers through a downtown retail business.
Her work in Pacific Beach continued to be an important part of her story.
Sessions operated a nursery in Pacific Beach where she grew and sold plants and trees and continued developing her knowledge of what could thrive in San Diego’s climate. The nursery gave her a place to work directly with plants while also supplying trees and other vegetation for private gardens and public spaces.
Her approach was practical. San Diego’s climate presented challenges for plants accustomed to wetter conditions, and Sessions experimented with species that could survive and flourish here. Her work helped demonstrate that a city with a relatively dry climate could still develop a lush and varied landscape.
Sessions was also closely involved with Balboa Park. Her advocacy for trees and landscaping helped influence the park’s development, and she donated plants and worked with others to improve San Diego’s public landscape.
Lath house and her residence are in view. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center.)
The Pacific Beach nursery, however, represented something different. It was not simply a commercial nursery. It was also a place where Sessions could continue her horticultural work on her own terms.
Her work at the nursery was rooted in practical experience: growing plants, seeing how they performed, and sharing what she learned about what would grow successfully in San Diego.
Sessions’ influence extended well beyond the nursery itself. She wrote about horticulture, encouraged residents to plant trees, and advocated for a greener city at a time when San Diego was still developing.
Her legacy can still be seen in the city’s landscape and in the parks and public spaces associated with her name.
The Pacific Beach nursery is an especially revealing part of that legacy because it shows Sessions not simply as a historical figure whose work was already complete, but as an active horticulturist who continued planting, growing, and studying plants during the later years of her life.
(Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center.)
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Sources:
California Office of Historic Preservation, Kate Sessions Historical Landmark designation.
San Diego History Center, “Kate Sessions 1857-1940.”
San Diego History Center, Kate Sessions papers, MS 38.
San Diego History Center, Kate Sessions collection.
City of San Diego Digital Archives, Kate Sessions Collection.
City of San Diego, Balboa Park historical resources.
City of San Diego, Historic Resources Board materials.
