The sacred gardens of Mission San Luis Rey

“One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden, Than anywhere else on earth”

This excerpt from a poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney was chiseled on a stone that my friend Nellie Reeve had placed in a garden at her home near London. Her garden was full of trailing red roses and yellow daffodils.

I will never forget the stone’s sweet message. I had heard it before, but to see it propped up and almost enveloped by daffodils somehow made it more significant.

Nellie has since passed on, and I don’t know what became of the stone, but I was reminded of the verse when I recently visited Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. The peace and serenity found at the mission’s gardens was electric and alive. I felt like I was near “God’s Heart.”

The mission gardens are beautiful, even in winter, when some of the trees are bare of leaves and the many jasmine shrubs and other flowering plants have not yet bloomed. However, still vibrant are the sweeping lawns, pines, succulents, the red bougainvillea and a host of rose bushes.

Mission San Luis Rey is called the “King of the Missions” because it is the largest of the twenty-one California missions. Founded in 1798, the grounds encompass 56 acres. Only a portion of the extensive grounds are open to the public except during special events and tours. In the mission’s infant days the property spread out to 200,000 acres.

Eighty identified varieties of plants and trees grace the mission grounds, including a Peruvian pepper tree. The variety has also been called the California pepper, but is actually from Peru, explained the mission’s executive director, Friar James Lockman, OFM, who led a fascinating horticultural tour of the grounds. He possesses a biology degree and is a fount of horticultural information. The friar leads the tour, varied somewhat, about every two months.

The mission’s Peruvian pepper tree has the distinction of being the oldest of that variety in California. This massive tree with a gnarled trunk was planted from a seed in 1830 and has recently lost a major limb, but others are permanently propped.

The pepper has a great taproot, which is able to find water deep underground. Friar James said that this tree has “probably outgrown its life.” However, it is still green, full of life, and may surprise us all to live for many more years.

All of the gardens at the mission feel sacred, but there is only one garden that is actually named the “Sacred Garden.” This courtyard garden is filled with roses, bird of paradise and a melodic Moorish-style fountain.

The friar led us through the courtyards and gardens pointing out trees and plants that I would probably have overlooked had I been wandering the grounds on my own. He led us to a large Mexican Ash tree, which was planted from a seed in 1892. Friar James pointed out that this is an important timber tree in Mexico and probably one of the reasons the seeds were carried to the mission.

It was difficult for me to comprehend that this tree, as well as the ancient pepper, was planted from seeds. When I have planted trees they are at least saplings. The friars who planted the trees somehow kept their precious seeds safe on the long journeys from Spain and Mexico.

Soft needles and stately heights are characteristics of the Canary Island pine located in the area near the volleyball court. Other large trees found in this area include Torrey pines, magnolias and a massive 100-year-old bottlebrush.

The endangered Torrey pine is native to Del Mar and is the rarest tree in California, according to Friar James. “We can count how many there are,” he noted.

The mission’s Tara trees were more than just ornamental beauties. Tannin extracted from the pods was used by the native Luiseño people, in the mission’s early days, to tan cow hides.

Spring is on our doorstep. On a spring visit to the mission the jacaranda trees and vines of wisteria will paint the grounds a delicate lavender hue. The mission gardens will exude a sweet fragrance and the many varieties of jasmine, no doubt, will contribute greatly to this effect.

What a blessing it is to live near this piece of California history which is dressed in vibrant colors and the perfect antidote for frazzled nerves.

Mission San Luis Rey

4050 Mission Avenue

Oceanside

(Near SR-76)

(760) 757-3651