This Just In!

HOT PRODUCT

E.B. Stone Citrus & Fruit Tree Food,  4LB

Is a blend of select natural organic ingredients for use with citrus and other home orchard fruit trees and with small fruits like berries and those grown on vines. It is formulated to encourage new growth, lush green foliage and to support bountiful crops.

FREE HB-101 Sample will be sent to you with any Mission Hills Nursery or Snooty Fox Art purchase.  HB-101 should be in your garden accessories all the time. HB-101 is a liquid plant growth enhancer formula, specially processed by blending the extracts of cedars, pines, cypress trees and plantains. Cedars, pines and cypresses are long-lived trees with powerful deodorizing power. The saps and secondary metabolites of these trees are responsible for maintaining the health and longevity of the trees.

  • Employee Spotlight | Juan Garcia

    April Employee SpotlightMeet Juan Garcia! Juan Garcia The Palafox family took the reign at Mission Hills Nursery 30 years ago this month, and  Juan Garcia has been with us for 29 years! He is our 'silent' employee. He does his job of keeping the nursery clean and the plants happy with watering and fertilizing. At [...]

  • 5 Steps to an Organic Lawn

    Why Switch to an Organic Lawn?   What´s the difference between traditional lawn care and organic?   The idea of organic lawn care is picking up steam across the country. More and more people are experiencing the benefits of organic lawn care, but really, what is the difference? Let's start with traditional lawn care.   [...]
  • Watering a garden in the spring sunshine

    Vernal Equinox and your Garden

    March 20th, 2019 is the Spring Equinox   What does the vernal equinox mean to our garden? The spring or vernal equinox is Nature's alarm clock. Although here in Southern California the signs of spring may have already begun to pop up,  the equinox tells our garden that the time for sleep is over. What [...]

Eco Friendly Organic Gardening

Mission Hills Nursery, your EcoGardeners of San Diego are dedicated to being the Eco Friendly, Organic Gardening & Landscape Designs Center of San Diego.

Since 1989 Mission Hills Nursery & Garden Center has been providing San Diego with the finest rose plants, pest control, house plants, flowers, organic fertilizers, garden tools, bulbs and the highest quality Eco Friendly Organic Gardening Products available. Serving your needs and making your garden come alive! “Dig It….. Plant It….. Eat It….. we’ve been green, growing green, and eating green since 1910.”

Our Story

Mother of Balboa Park (City Park)
In 1892 Sessions struck a deal with the City of San Diego to lease 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land in Balboa Park (then called City Park) as her growing fields. In return, she agreed to plant 100 trees a year in the mostly barren park, as well as 300 trees a year in other parts of San Diego.  This arrangement left the park with an array of cypress, pine, oak, pepper trees and eucalyptus grown in her gardens from seeds imported from around the world; virtually all of the older trees still seen in the park were planted by her.

The Mission Hills Nursery, which she founded in 1910 and sold to her employees the Antonicelli brothers in 1926, is still in operation to this day. Now owned and operated by the Palafox Family since 1989.

Kate O. Sessions

Kate O. Sessions 11/8/1857 – 3/24/1940

The Palafox Family

mission hills nursery - owners

Fausto Palafox and Family purchase San Diego’s oldest nursery and garden center, Mission Hills Nursery, April 1989.

organic gardening - mission hills nursery

Toni and Fausto Palafox, realize their dream.

eco friendly gardening - mission hills nursery

Tiger and Isaac the new generation

Mission Hills Nursery San Diego’s oldest garden center was founded in the early 1900’s by the legendary Kate O. Sessions. This piece of history was purchased by Fausto Palafox and family. Fausto had been an employee of Nurseryland Garden Centers always having a dream of being a business owner and forging his own path in the garden center business. Fausto’s employment history extends 25 years with Nurseryland Garden Centers as a stock boy and rising through various management positions ultimately as Director of Operations, overseeing 37 stores in California and Arizona.

Guiding Mission Hills Nursery from a neighborhood nursery to a top player in the garden beauty business in all of San Diego County, adding a landscape maintenance service and landscape design and installation service have allowed the Palafox Family to thrive in this very competitive business. Mission Hills Nursery is poised to thrive in the next century with owners very involved in the day to day operations. Son Fausto “Tiger” Palafox heads the Maintenance and Landscape Operations. And a new generation is coming up fast.