Kate Sessions (1857-1940) was born in San Francisco, but lived her adult life in San Diego where she became a well-known nursery owner, florist, and promoter of native and other climate-appropriate plants in that city. In 2020, the San Diego Floral Association published a collection of four decades of her writings from the magazine California Garden. Her life is also captured in a book for children, “The Tree Lady”, about her efforts to beautify her adopted city.
While these articles may seem out of scope for Pacific Northwest readers, they capture a great deal of interesting garden history. This includes Sessions’ effort to encourage the planting of natives such as ceanothus, and using South African bulbs instead of trying to coax daffodils to bloom in the desert climate.
Sessions collaborated with several noted botanists of the time. She and Alice Eastwood increased both the horticultural and botanical knowledge of many plants, including being instrumental in the founding of the American Fuchsia Society. With T. S. Brandegee, Sessions traveled in 1900 to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico (four days by steamer) and then into the mountains (three days by burro) to collect seeds and plants of a newly discovered palm named after him, Brahea brandegeei. Her efforts ensured it is now well established in San Diego parks.
In her opening essay in the Floral Association publication, Nancy Carol Carter wrote, “Sessions intentionally stepped away from women’s work and into a male-dominated world of horticulture.” Having never married, “she enjoyed her personal autonomy and freedom from the household responsibilities generally expected of women at the time.”
Excerpted from Brian Thompson’s article in the Winter 2023 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin