Welcome to San Diego’s “secret garden.” The Point Loma Native Plant Garden is a 2½-acre refuge at Mendocino and Greene streets in Ocean Beach. The garden is home to more than 100 rare and endangered plant species that were prevalent in San Diego County a century ago. That was well before palm trees and grass lawns became the norm, said Richard Dhu, program manager for the San Diego River Park Foundation. The foundation oversees the garden, which is part of the city’s Collier Park West. Some species in the collection are not found naturally anywhere else in the world, Dhu said, as he walked along the serene, 1½-mile meandering path that overlooks the bustle of Nimitz Boulevard. The garden, on a parcel of land left to the children of San Diego by early developer D.C. Collier, is open to the public 24/7. Volunteers meet for work parties the first Saturday and third Sunday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. Visitors also can buy plants. The proceeds go toward upkeep of the garden. Volunteers, who do the planting, mulching, watering and weeding, logged more than 1,000 hours last year. Boy Scout Troop 500 built and outfitted the nursery, which volunteers maintain. Point Loma resident Joel Kalmonson has headed the volunteer team for the last six years. He got involved in the project, he said, when he ran out of front-yard real estate for his cactus and succulents. “They gave me a key to the shed and I was in,” Kalmonson said. The property wasn’t always so tranquil, according to Dhu. In the middle of the hippie movement in 1971, he said, locals held a protest against the city’s plan to allow development on the parcel. The demonstration started at the beach in protest against the Vietnam War and ended up at what eventually became the garden. Although police answered with riot gear, locals prevailed, Dhu said. The garden project began in 1982 with native plants representing Central and Southern California, the Channel Islands and Northern Baja. The foundation took over the project about seven years ago. At first glance, the place looks like any other wild hillside in San Diego. Look a little closer, though, and you start to distinguish exotic specimens. These are plants you won’t find amid the iceplant lining the freeways or in many garden centers, Dhu said. “The thing about San Diego is that we have more biodiversity than any county in the United States,” said Dhu. Winter is one of the best times to visit the reserve, Dhu said, because many of the flowers bloom in the rainy months. On a walk through the garden, Dhu pointed to a torrey pine, “the rarest pines in the country.” There’s also the rare and endangered Tecate cypress. The path wanders by memorial trees and foliage dedicated to locals. There’s a Tecate cypress that began as a one-gallon plant and now, five years later, tops six feet. There’s also a coast live oak, recently planted in memory of an organ donor by another San Diegan who received the donor’s heart. All told, there are about a dozen memorials. “They’re not grouped in one area, because we don’t want it to look like a cemetery,” Dhu said. The variety of native specimens includes Shaw’s agave, which is rare in Southern California but more abundant in coastal Northern Baja; island tree mallow that, Dhu said, doesn’t need watering; bladderpod, the favorite habitat of the Harlequin beetle that can spend its entire life on the plant; and lemonade berry, which Native Americans used to make tea. They also used flat-top buckwheat for tea and porridge, Dhu said, adding that the Hermes copper butterfly, which is endangered, dines primarily on this plant. Willow also was a favorite with Native Americans, who used it not only to make hunting tools and shelters, but for pain and fever control. Though the refuge remains largely a secret to San Diegans west of Interstate 5, Dhu said, residents who call Ocean Beach and Point Loma home are discovering that it’s a good place to walk, picnic or hold a casual corporate event. To volunteer or learn more about the Point Loma Native Plant Garden, go to sandiegoriver.org/plnpg.php or call (619) 297-7380.