A neighborhood landmark (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)
Nursery, Mission Hills

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that San Diego’s oldest nursery sits in the heart of Mission Hills, and that it ishome to eight easygoing, crowing inhabitants?

Located on Fort Stockton Drive only a couple blocks north of Pioneer Park, the Mission Hills Nursery dates back to 1910 when it was founded by Kate O. Sessions, known otherwise as “the mother of Balboa Park.”

Sessions successfully developed the nursery over a 16-year period before selling it to employee Giuseppe Antonicelli. The business continued thriving and changed hands again in 1989 when the Antonicelli family sold it to the Palafox family, which still owns it.

Today, green thumbs have come to rely on the spacious nursery for its vast array of flora and gardening supplies overseen not only by professional horticulturists, but also by a brood of friendly chickens that often roam freely within the grounds.

If you can’t tell the difference between Molly, Flossy, Lucy and Sunny, for example, the fowl appear on a pictorial chart at the checkout counter, with each of their specific breeds listed. No doubt, the attractive 113-year-old property is their happy place. And ours too 🫶🏼🐓♥️.