South Pasadena Nature Park

100 Pasadena Ave
Pasadena, CA 91030

Coastal sage scrub habitat in the early morning light.
Pathways criss-cross through beautiful sage scrub plants. (image taken in early February)
Wild cucumber blooms growing in laurel sumac.
Wild cucumber just starting out on its path to temporary domination Image taken in early February)

Established:
2004

Size:
3.5 acres

Features:
Walking trails
Bridal Path
Cool information signs

Best time to visit:
Spring, summer and winter
In winter and early spring the wild cucumbers come to life, poking out of the ground like weird little aliens, and their rapid progress is fun to watch. Spring has all the wild flowers, penstemons, and bush sunflowers in bloom. Summer brings the mallows, buckwheats and the milkweeds in the butterfly garden.

South Pasadena Nature Park marks the most southern, and our last stop on the Arroyo Seco. In the 1990’s this three and a half acre piece of land was condemned to be sold and developed. However, it was through community activism that the land was preserved as an open space. Construction began in 2004 and the park has steadily grown since.

The edges of the park are lined with mature oaks, sycamores, walnuts and toyons. In the spring the path that leads from the street to the park is lined with wild cucumber. This fascinating plant spreads vigorously and ridiculously fast, from a giant root system (it is in the “manroot” family after all). The vines can cover trees and take over huge areas. And yet by the end of June they are completely gone. They are summer deciduous and totally fade away. Only the most stringy of dried vines are left. They have small charming flowers, beautifully shaped leaves and right before disappearing, strange spiky seed pods that look nothing like a cucumber.


Along this trail there is also a very healthy stand of poison oak mixed in, which is lovely to see, but maybe not to touch. The open space of the park is filled with small trails that take you through buckwheats, bladder pods, California sage and an impressive group of coast sunflowers that are simply spectacular when in bloom.

The butterfly garden that was completed in 2018 features milkweeds, penstemons, wildflowers and a stunning chaparral mallow. Here visitors can find a helpful sign about monarch butterflies and the plants they need to survive. There is also a helpful guide to the visible peaks, such as the well known Mount Baldy and the delightfully named Mount Disappointment.

The park connects to the greater Arroyo Seco trails and it is not uncommon to see riders on horseback pass through the park. While coming in the spring could never disappoint, especially with all those coast sunflowers, summer has the buckwheats in bloom and the Nevin’s barberries at the entrance are covered in bright red berries. The chaparral mallow in the butterfly garden is simply spectacular and would warrant a visit in the hot sun.

Pink chaparral mallow blooms and white California buckwheat blooms.
Chaparral mallows are a great alternative to a butterfly plant. Not only does it provide nectar, but it is also the host plant for the Northern- white- skipper and the West Coast Lady. (image taken in mid July)
California buckwheat, laurel sumac, and lemonade berry growing in a dense thicket.
The Nature Park is filled with delightful summer blooming and evergreen locally native plants. (image taken in mid July)

While the start of the nature park was not easy, it was the establishment of the plants that became a real battle. Neglected and disturbed areas like the Nature Park site have a seed bank overrun with weeds and invasive plants. Without attention these plants quickly outcompete the native plants.

(Quick side note: the reason non-native plants are often more successful here is because they have no predators, pathogens, or natural systems to keep them in check. What you are seeing is not a plant better suited to the environment, but an ecology that is totally out of balance.)

Barbara Eisenstein, the author of Weeding Wild Suburbia and the main force behind the Nature Park, details the beginning of the park in the article “NATIVE BY DESIGN: COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN THE CREATION AND STEWARDSHIP OF A NATURE PARK” in the 2009 issue of Fremontia, the magazine of the California Native Plant Society. Eisenstein writes about how volunteers battled weeds, urban runoff, broken and glass graffiti. The original plans for the lower flat area of the park was to have a grassland meadow, but that was immediately overrun with weeds. The city brought in green waste to smother the casterbeans and other weeds, which worked but left the center of the park empty.

The space was then filled with less delicate shrubs, like laurel sumac and buckwheat. And while this wasn’t the original plan, it’s still lovely.

What the South Pasadena Nature Park really represents is caring, or perhaps more accurately, stewardship. Eisenstein writes “It is a target for graffiti, broken glass, and litter. Weeds are always ready to reestablish themselves, crowding out the local native plants. Through much of the year, urban runoff—polluted with fertilizers, pesticides, and other toxins— flows through the concrete-lined waterway. This is the reality of our environment, yet each month a small group of citizens refuses to accept it.” The park was created through hard physical work but also through the labour and endurance of continuing to care. This space and the habitat it provides is the result of people looking at a space and seeing what it could be. Of wanting something better, and of valuing the land in a way that subverts our current systems of consumption.

A path way through the South Pasadena Nature Park with a large coyote bush, buckwheat and toyon.
 If you are having trouble with planting on disturbed land, the Nature Park has great solutions for what can out compete the most invasive of plants. (image taken in mid July)
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Opening Hours:
24 hours everyday

South Pasadena Nature Park

100 Pasadena Ave
Pasadena, CA 91030

Coastal sage scrub habitat in the early morning light.
Pathways criss-cross through beautiful sage scrub plants. (image taken in early February)
Wild cucumber blooms growing in laurel sumac.
Wild cucumber just starting out on its path to temporary domination Image taken in early February)

Established:
2004

Size:
3.5 acres

Features:
Walking trails
Bridal Path
Cool information signs

Best time to visit:
Spring, summer and winter
In winter and early spring the wild cucumbers come to life, poking out of the ground like weird little aliens, and their rapid progress is fun to watch. Spring has all the wild flowers, penstemons, and bush sunflowers in bloom. Summer brings the mallows, buckwheats and the milkweeds in the butterfly garden.

South Pasadena Nature Park marks the most southern, and our last stop on the Arroyo Seco. In the 1990’s this three and a half acre piece of land was condemned to be sold and developed. However, it was through community activism that the land was preserved as an open space. Construction began in 2004 and the park has steadily grown since.

The edges of the park are lined with mature oaks, sycamores, walnuts and toyons. In the spring the path that leads from the street to the park is lined with wild cucumber. This fascinating plant spreads ridiculously fast from a giant root system (it is in the “manroot” family after all). The vines can cover trees and will completely take over large areas. And yet by mid summer, they are completely gone. Only the most stringy of dried vines are left of this summer deciduous plant. In the winter and spring they are covered in small, charming flowers, beautifully shaped leaves and right before disappearing, strange spiky seed pods (that look nothing like a cucumber).

Along this trail there is also a very healthy stand of poison oak, which is lovely to see, but maybe not to touch. The open space of the park is filled with small trails that take you through

buckwheats, bladder pods, California sage and an impressive group of bush sunflowers that are simply spectacular when in bloom.

The butterfly garden that was completed in 2018 features milkweeds, penstemons, wildflowers and a stunning chaparral mallow. Here visitors can find a helpful sign about monarch butterflies and the plants they need to survive. There is also a helpful guide to the visible peaks, such as the well known Mount Baldy and the delightfully named Mount Disappointment.

The park connects to the greater Arroyo Seco trails and it is not uncommon to see riders on horseback pass through the park. While coming in the spring could never disappoint, especially with all those bush sunflowers, summer has the buckwheats in bloom and the Nevin’s barberries at the entrance are covered in bright red berries. The chaparral mallow in the butterfly garden is simply spectacular and would warrant a visit in the hot sun.

Pink chaparral mallow blooms and white California buckwheat blooms.
Chaparral mallows are a great alternative to a butterfly plant. Not only does it provide nectar, but it is also the host plant for the Northern- white- skipper and the West Coast Lady. (image taken in mid July)
California buckwheat, laurel sumac, and lemonade berry growing in a dense thicket.
The Nature Park is filled with delightful summer blooming and evergreen locally native plants. (image taken in mid July)
While the start of the nature park was not easy, it was the establishment of the plants that became a real battle.Neglected and disturbed areas like the Nature Park site have a seed bank overrun with weeds and invasive plants. Without attention these plants quickly outcompete the native plants.

(Quick side note: the reason non-native plants are often more successful is because they have no predators, pathogens, or natural systems to keep them in check. What you are seeing is not a plant better suited to the environment, but an ecology that is totally out of balance.)

Barbara Eisenstein, the author of Weeding Wild Suburbia and the main force behind the Nature Park, details the beginning of the park in the article “Native by Design: Community involvement in the creation and stewardship of a nature park” in the 2009 issue of Fremontia, the magazine of the California Native Plant Society. Eisenstein writes about how volunteers battled weeds, urban runoff, and vandalism. The original plans for the lower flat area of the park was to have a grassland meadow, but that was immediately overrun with weeds. The city brought in green waste to smother the casterbeans and other weeds, which worked but left the center of the park empty.

The space was then filled with less delicate shrubs, like laurel sumac and buckwheat. And while this wasn’t the original plan, it’s still lovely.

What the South Pasadena Nature Park really represents is caring, or perhaps more accurately, stewardship. Eisenstein writes “It is a target for graffiti, broken glass, and litter. Weeds are always ready to reestablish themselves, crowding out the local native plants. Through much of the year, urban runoff—polluted with fertilizers, pesticides, and other toxins— flows through the concrete-lined waterway. This is the reality of our environment, yet each month a small group of citizens refuses to accept it.”

The park was created through hard physical work but also through the labour and endurance of continuing to care. This space and the habitat it provides is the result of people looking at a space and seeing what it could be. Of wanting something better, and of valuing the land in a way that subverts our current systems of consumption.

A path way through the South Pasadena Nature Park with a large coyote bush, buckwheat and toyon.
 If you are having trouble with planting on disturbed land, the Nature Park has great solutions for what can out compete the most invasive of plants. (image taken in mid July)
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Opening Hours:
24 hours everyday

South Pasadena Nature Park

100 Pasadena Ave
Pasadena, CA 91030

Coastal sage scrub habitat in the early morning light.
Pathways criss-cross through beautiful sage scrub plants. (image taken in early February)

Established:
2004

Size:
3.5 acres

Features:
Walking trails
Bridal Path
Cool information signs

Best time to visit:
Spring, summer and winter
In winter and early spring the wild cucumbers come to life, poking out of the ground like weird little aliens, and their rapid progress is fun to watch. Spring has all the wild flowers, penstemons, and bush sunflowers in bloom. Summer brings the mallows, buckwheats and the milkweeds in the butterfly garden.

South Pasadena Nature Park marks the most southern, and our last stop on the Arroyo Seco. In the 1990’s this three and a half acre piece of land was condemned to be sold and developed. However, it was through community activism that the land was preserved as an open space. Construction began in 2004 and the park has steadily grown since.

The edges of the park are lined with mature oaks, sycamores, walnuts and toyons. In the spring the path that leads from the street to the park is lined with wild cucumber. This fascinating plant spreads ridiculously fast from a giant root system (it is in the “manroot” family after all). The vines can cover trees and will completely take over large areas. And yet by mid summer, they are completely gone. Only the most stringy of dried vines are left of this summer deciduous plant. In the winter and spring they are covered in small, charming flowers, beautifully shaped leaves and right before disappearing, strange spiky seed pods (that look nothing like a cucumber).

Wild cucumber blooms growing in laurel sumac.
Wild cucumber just starting out on its path to temporary domination Image taken in early February)

Along this trail there is also a very healthy stand of poison oak, which is lovely to see, but maybe not to touch. The open space of the park is filled with small trails that take you through buckwheats, bladder pods, California sage and an impressive group of bush sunflowers that are simply spectacular when in bloom.

The butterfly garden that was completed in 2018 features milkweeds, penstemons, wildflowers and a stunning chaparral mallow. Here visitors can find a helpful sign about monarch butterflies and the plants they need to survive. There is also a helpful guide to the visible peaks, such as the well known Mount Baldy and the delightfully named Mount Disappointment.

Pink chaparral mallow blooms and white California buckwheat blooms.
Chaparral mallows are a great alternative to a butterfly plant. Not only does it provide nectar, but it is also the host plant for the Northern- white- skipper and the West Coast Lady. (image taken in mid July)

The park connects to the greater Arroyo Seco trails and it is not uncommon to see riders on horseback pass through the park. While coming in the spring could never disappoint, especially with all those bush sunflowers, summer has the buckwheats in bloom and the Nevin’s barberries at the entrance are covered in bright red berries. The chaparral mallow in the butterfly garden is simply spectacular and would warrant a visit in the hot sun.

California buckwheat, laurel sumac, and lemonade berry growing in a dense thicket.
The Nature Park is filled with delightful summer blooming and evergreen locally native plants. (image taken in mid July)

While the start of the nature park was not easy, it was the establishment of the plants that became a real battle. Neglected and disturbed areas like the Nature Park site have a seed bank overrun with weeds and invasive plants. Without attention these plants quickly outcompete the native plants.

(Quick side note: the reason non-native plants are often more successful is because they have no predators, pathogens, or natural systems to keep them in check. What you are seeing is not a plant better suited to the environment, but an ecology that is totally out of balance.)

Barbara Eisenstein, the author of Weeding Wild Suburbia and the main force behind the Nature Park, details the beginning of the park in the article “Native by Design: Community involvement in the creation and stewardship of a nature park” in the 2009 issue of Fremontia, the magazine of the California Native Plant Society. Eisenstein writes about how volunteers battled weeds, urban runoff, and vandalism. The original plans for the lower flat area of the park was to have a grassland meadow, but that was immediately overrun with weeds. The city brought in green waste to smother the casterbeans and other weeds, which worked but left the center of the park empty. The space was then filled with less delicate shrubs, like laurel sumac and buckwheat. And while this wasn’t the original plan, it’s still lovely.

A path way through the South Pasadena Nature Park with a large coyote bush, buckwheat and toyon.
 If you are having trouble with planting on disturbed land, the Nature Park has great solutions for what can out compete the most invasive of plants. (image taken in mid July)

What the South Pasadena Nature Park really represents is caring, or perhaps more accurately, stewardship. Eisenstein writes “It is a target for graffiti, broken glass, and litter. Weeds are always ready to reestablish themselves, crowding out the local native plants. Through much of the year, urban runoff—polluted with fertilizers, pesticides, and other toxins— flows through the concrete-lined waterway. This is the reality of our environment, yet each month a small group of citizens refuses to accept it.”

The park was created through hard physical work but also through the labour and endurance of continuing to care. This space and the habitat it provides is the result of people looking at a space and seeing what it could be. Of wanting something better, and of valuing the land in a way that subverts our current systems of consumption.

Close
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Options hide options
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Opening Hours:
24 hours everyday

York Avenue bridge with western sycamores in the front.
The lovely York Street bridge can be seen from the lower section of the park. (image taken in mid July)
A walnut and oak woodland.
Visitors who enter the park from Pasadena Ave get to walk through a gorgeous oak and black walnut woodland. (image taken in mid July)
Wild cucumber blooms growing in laurel sumac.
Wild cucumber in its growing season. (image taken in early February)
A Southern Californian black walnut with dormant wild cucumber vines.
Wild cucumber as it enters the dormant season. (image taken in mid July)
The common sunflower is anything but. This super hardy summer blooming plant is also host to nine different butterflies and moths. (image taken in mid July)
A bladderpod still in bloom after the summer.
All of that hard work created such a magical place. (image taken in early February)
A dense thicket of buckwheats and currents.
The small leaves of the golden currant look like little jewels in the sunshine. (image taken in mid July)
A wood chip covered trail leads towards a dense planting of trees and bushes.
The Nature Park shows what is possible with hard work and dedication and also how important the results can be. (image taken in mid July)
Summer dry giant ryes.
A group of giant rye wait out the summer heat. (image taken in mid July)
Coat live oak with summer dormant plants in the background.
The edges of the woodland. (image taken in mid July)
A dirt garden path leads towards the butterfly garden.
The pathway to the butterfly garden. (image taken in mid July)
Chaparral Mallow in full bloom.
The Nature Park’s beautiful Chaparral mallow in full bloom. (image taken mid July)
Pink chaparral Mallow blooms.
The Chaparral mallow has delicate little pink blooms. (image taken in mid July)
Narrow leaf milkweeds in bloom with seed pods.
Narrow leaf milkweeds in the butterfly garden. (image taken in mid July)
A dirt trail leads through an oak and walnut woodland.
How different this area would be if it had been developed. (image taken in mid July)
Sunflowers with coastal sage in the background.
The lovely common sunflower really pulls its weight in this section of the garden. (image taken in mid July)
Bluish Bladderpod bushes in summer dormant vegetation.
Bladerpods! This super cool plant is evergreen and gets covered in weird little seed-pod bladders. (image taken in mid July)
A large Nevin's barberry with red berries visible.
The Nevin’s barberry is a rare plant native Southern California. It spends the summer covered in lovely little red berries. (image taken in mid July)
A dense planting of coastal sage scrub with blooming buckwheats in the center.
California buckwheats blooming when everything around them has gone dormant. (image taken in mid July)
A thicket of Golden current.
Golden currents are a hyper local native bush that has lovely little yellow flowers in spring and golden berries in the summer. (image taken in mid July)
Buckbush in the summer, showing its light colored bark and spines.
Buckbrush is a spiny, very wild looking species of ceanothus. (image taken in mid July)
A large rock and a western sycamore sit in a field of dried grass.
This is a pretty cool little rock. (image taken in mid July)
Deerweed on the way to dormancy with a few blooms still on the plant.
Deerweed with a few of its remaining flowers as it begins to go dormant in summer. (image taken in mid July)
Bush sunflower blooms in the morning sun.
Bush sunflowers at the start of their blooming time. (image taken in early February)
Frost covered white sage in winter.
White sage covered in an early morning frost. (image taken in early February)
A close up of summer dormant plants and seed heads.
The summer dormant landscape is full of beautiful textures and delicate hues. (image taken in mid July)
Engelmann Oak with dormant monkeyflowers underneath.
Engelmann oak in a small patch of dormant monkey flowers. (image taken in mid July)
Lemonade Berry surrounded by plants.
A lovely and large lemonade berry. (image taken in mid July)