Balboa Park is rich with diverse attractions, museums and walking paths. It is also well-known for its botanical gardens, flush with plants — both distinguishable and obscure. But few visitors may know about a botanical “medicine cabinet” that has been growing there for decades.
“I'm sure Balboa Park lovers have probably or possibly walked this many times, like I had growing up, without really realizing what it is,” Jessica Johnson said. She runs a website called Hidden San Diego that highlights interesting places around town. Balboa Park’s Trees For Health is one such location. “These are all a lot of really rare medicinal trees from all over the world. And they have plaques explaining what they are,” Johnson said.
She happened upon the Trees For Health garden accidentally many years ago, and it has become one of her favorite places to visit and share with her followers on her website and social media.
Located on the corner of Balboa Drive and Quince street, Trees For Health Garden spans over 3.5 acres, and boasts more than 70 medicinal trees and shrubs.
It offers what its creators call a “Five Flavors Walk,” intended to help visitors understand the value and uses of medicinal plants. Signs along the walk explain how each flavor coincides with a specific health function. For example, the bitter flavor of mugwort and coffee bean is described as "astringent," with the effects of tightening tissues, and stimulating immune function, production of stomach acids and enzymes, and detoxification by the liver and colon.
Johnson, a regular visitor to this garden, searches the vast acreage for one of her favorite finds — the cinnamon tree. "Cinnamon! There it is," she says upon spotting it.
"This to me was one of the more exciting ones to see— a cinnamon tree — because I'd never seen one before," Johnson said. "It's exciting to realize that we can grow that out here."
Cinnamon is also reputed to have health benefits, though the National Institutes of Health says more research is needed.
The Trees for Health arboretum was created in 1993 by the San Diego Herb Club. Two years later it was expanded to its permanent location in Balboa Park. It is now considered a healing space that also provides education about valuable medicinal horticulture.
“Every time I post about it on social media it always gets a lot of attention. People are really surprised and excited to learn about it. I don't know if it's one of those places that they just stopped by once, or kind of save it to their notes to know it exists, but I think it should become more popular,” Johnson said.
Johnson says she has seen people visit the garden from all areas of the world. "I came here with some of my friends who are from Afghanistan, and they were so excited to see the mulberry bush, which they said was from their hometown," she said.
Johnson says she feels that people have become detached from the value of plants. "Everyone's getting so sick all the time. Diseases are on the rise. But really, if we go back to the basics of working with the whole food, the whole plant — and realizing that it is medicine — I think we would all be a lot healthier,” Johnson said.
And the garden is good for mental health, too.
“It’s very special to connect with plants,” Johnson said. “I always feel really happy when I come here.”
