A couple of weeks ago, I sniffed around a unique Balboa Park neighborhood oasis, Golden Hill Park. This week my fine canine senses have led me to Palm Canyon, a veritable tropical oasis tucked inside the Park’s popular central mesa area.

One of the earliest sections of the Park to be developed, Palm Canyon first came to life in 1912. In anticipation of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Balboa Park’s famed horticulturist, Kate Sessions, took advantage of an underground stream here to plant dozens of Mexican fan palms, along with other varieties, to create a tropical paradise. Many more have been added over the century, resulting in a total population of 450-plus palms representing over 50 species, along with many other complementary specimens of plant life.

This lush canyon was further enhanced in 1976 with a convenient wooden staircase and footbridge just south of the House of Charm. Now visitors can either descend to explore the shady canyon’s hidden treasures as they hike southward toward the Old Cactus Garden. Or, they can enjoy the scenery from atop the footbridge overlooking the canyon.

Ironically, one of the most striking horticultural features in the canyon isn’t a palm at all, but a large Moreton Bay fig tree adjacent to the wooden steps. This tree’s massive and elaborate root structure is any pooch’s dream come true!

As a native San Diegan, I often hear transplanted bipeds complain that the seasons don’t really change here. While that may be true for some, Balboa Park’s gardens and vast grounds display ample seasonal colors that even a semi-colorblind canine can see. In fact, this time of year my usual ground-level attentions are often pulled skyward by the colorful foliage and flowers that are now emerging throughout the Park.

For instance, strolling along Sixth Avenue near Quince St. this week, I noticed the leaves in a grove of American Sweetgum trees already undergoing their fall transformation to red and orange. Heading back south on Balboa Drive (toward Nate’s Point Dog Park, of course), my eyes and nose were diverted into the Trees for Health Garden. Here I caught a glimpse of new fall hues in the Pecan Tree, the graceful Idaho Locust Tree, and the Weeping Willow.

Fortunately I don’t have to strain my neck as much to see brilliant fall colors in Balboa Park’s many gardens. For example, right now there are multiple varieties of sage blooming in the Zoro and Alcazar Gardens. Also lighting up the Alcazar is the “Golden Delicious” sage with its lime green foliage and bright red tubular flowers. In addition, the Alcazar’s African Tulip Tree (pictured) is now producing dazzling blooms to create an amazing photo-op with the California Tower in the background.

Heck, even the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden is still bursting with vibrant roses thanks to San Diego’s “lack of seasons.”

If you’ve been following this blog, you know I have a great nose for the many opportunities in Balboa Park for combining cultural exploration with exercise. One scenic tour I have yet to mention, however, is the Kate Sessions Self-Guided Tour (a.k.a. Dog Walk).

It all begins at the Balboa Park Visitors Center where you pick up a free brochure that includes a map and description of all the points of interest along the way. These points are numbered and correspond with numbered sniffing-posts, er, um, signposts on the route.

With brochure in hand, start your journey at the Kate Sessions Statue in Sefton Plaza, near the corner of El Prado and Balboa Drive. Kate Sessions is known as the “Mother of Balboa Park,” and many of the trees she planted around the turn of the 20^th century can still be seen on this tour of the Park’s northwest mesa. In fact, it’s this tour’s emphasis on these very trees, including a lovely Canary Island pine, a parrot’s beak coral, a massive cork oak, and a San Jose Hesper Palm tree, that make it especially memorable for me (as you can imagine).

The tour heads north to Upas Street before winding its way back toward the Cabrillo Bridge. The 1.6 mile route is an ideal trek for bipeds and quadrupeds alike, that is, provided you complete the tour by visiting Nate’s Point Dog Park, which by some oversight didn’t make it into the brochure.

Scarlet writes: Dear Cosmos, In anticipation of all the fresh sights and scents spring ushers into the Park, can you point me to the best places to experience the new blooms?

Cosmos: Like you, I always look forward to seeing all the new plants and flowers the season brings to Balboa Park’s glorious gardens. One of the best places to start is the Alcazar Garden, which boasts thousands of newly planted flowers, including 1,600 Delphinium “Guardian Blue” in the two large beds, 1,200 mixed hybrid Foxglove in the four smaller beds, and a colorful assortment of perennial flowers in the perimeter beds.

The first blooms of the season should also already be budding in the Rose Garden, which may have its best year ever. (My inside sources tell me some of the lower performing varieties have been replaced.) Also, keep an eye out for the Sally Holmes roses, featuring soft white single blooms, climbing up a newly installed fence in the garden.

Of course, one of the best places to head this spring is the Botanical Building where you’ll be greeted by over 125 new orchids that have been added to the collection, shipped in from a specialty grower in Hawaii. Already blossoming is a Tropical Orange “Apricosa,” a fragrant and prolific bloomer that produces large 5- to 6-inch flower heads.

Those are just the highlights, but be sure to stay tuned to this blog for updates on all the latest blooms in the Park throughout 2009.

Ever wonder how the gardeners get all those rose bushes in Balboa Park to bloom so fully? The Annual Rose Pruning Demonstration presented by the San Diego Rose Society on Saturday, January 3, will give you all the tips and tricks you need to ensure your own bounty of fresh roses in the coming year. The free event takes place in the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden from 9:15 a.m. to 12 noon. Just bring your own gloves and pruners to participate.