When purple reigns, where did all the Jacaranda Trees in Los Angeles come from?
Kate Sessions, a pioneer female horticulturalist, helped make over the natural environment of Southern California.
The Barbary Coast-era San Francisco was where Sessions was born.In 1870, Lake Merritt became the country's first official wildlife refuge.She was part of a small group of women who attended U.C.After the Board of regents opened admission to female students, Berkeley received her degree in natural science.
After graduation, Sessions went on to enroll in business school in San Francisco, but was lured south by an offer of a job as a school teacher.
When she arrived in Southern California, her passion for plants exploded.She bought a flower shop and established flower cultivating fields after only one year as a teacher.
She was experimenting with bringing seeds and plants from Europe, Mexico, and South America, as well as cultivating native California plants, because she was fascinated with plants growing in exotic parts of the world.She was the most sought-after landscape designer in the city.
She made a deal that changed the landscape of California.The city of San Diego leased 32 acres of land to be known as City Park.The field lacked formal landscaping and was barren.The situation will be amended by planting 100 new trees per year in the park and 300 trees annually on public lands around the city.She could use the property as a laboratory and grow field.Balboa Park was re-dubbed after the property was filled with cypress, eucalyptus, palms, and jacaranda.
The only statue of a historical woman in San Diego is at the park, and it was placed in 1998.A short video about her contributions to the city was produced by the Women's Museum of California.
Word of San Diego's transformation into a colorful and lush environment quickly spread up the coast, as did the popularity of the exotic plants that Sessions demonstrated could flourish here.Jacarandas, with their beautiful blossoms in a distinctive purple color, were an easy sell, and in the 1920s and 30s they were planted extensively in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
As Los Angeles grew, her legacy continued as jacarandas became one of the most recognizable trees in the region.