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
“The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits” was the earliest (1897 – the Miller Library has the 1921 third edition) West Coast book published in a recognizably field guide format. Text author Mary Elizabeth Parsons (1859-1947) was born in Chicago, but spent most of her life in California. She was a keen student of the state’s botany and studied with noted botanist Alice Eastwood at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco.
Her book reflects her scientific discipline by including a “How to Use the Book” introduction, a glossary of botanical terms, and keys to distinguish plant families. She goes on to describe these families – all of flowering plants – with a count of the genera and species as known worldwide and in the state at that time. This makes the book a useful time capsule of botanical history.
Parsons also studied art, but she asked Margaret Warriner Buck (1857-1929) to illustrate the book and accompany her explorations of the state. With few exceptions, Buck drew her simple but effective pen-and-ink drawings in the field. All these efforts paid off, as the “The Wild Flowers of California” remained a standard through several editions into the middle of the 20th century. Later editions included color plates by Buck, also known for her work with the early years of “Sunset” magazine. The Miller Library also has the 1960 edition, available to borrow.
In addition to her attention to detail, Parsons captured the joy of being a field botanist. “Every walk into the fields is transformed from an aimless ramble into a joyous, eager quest, and every journey upon state or railroad becomes a rare opportunity for making new plant-acquaintances—a season of exhilarating excitement.”
Excerpted from the Winter 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
“Plants of Northern California” by Eva Begley includes non-flowering plants such as conifers and ferns. The scope is essentially north of a line from San Francisco to Sacramento, west of the Sierra Nevada range, and south of the Oregon border.
This is not arranged by flower color. The author explains: “In short, dear reader, you may find it hard to identify all the plants you encounter in northern California, and you certainly won’t find every one in this book. By organizing the book according to families, though, rather than flower color, I hope to help you at least to place many plants not included here in their correct family or genus.”
Without a field test, I can’t comment on this approach for identification, but I did find it effective for reading through the book, allowing me to concentrate on all the species in a single genus. For example, being able to read about all the monkey flowers (Mimulus species), in their wide array of colors, in one place gave me a greater appreciation for the genus that includes annuals, perennials, or even shrubs. The writing is very engaging, although I did balk at Rhododendron macrophyllum, the state flower of Washington, being called a “California Rhododendron.” Harrumph!
Excerpted from the Summer 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.
An online database providing occurrence data about native and introduced plants in California.
Covers only the northern-most part of California
Database providing native plant recommendations for California gardens. Currently, the database relies on zip codes to determine plant lists and only includes California zip codes.
An online database of plant photos compiled by individuals and organizations. Each contributor has designated his/her own copyright restrictions for his/her photos.