Both members and visitors are welcome at our regular monthly meetings, held at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month except November and December. Meetings are held at Eaton Canyon Nature Center.
As of September 2022 our chapter gatherings are once again held in-person, and can be viewed simultaneously on Zoom. In line with current Los Angeles County recommendations, masks are strongly recommended for indoor public settings — but we especially welcome your in-person presence if you can.
As occurred previously, we plan that before long our meetings will be preceded from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. by social time and informal plant identification.
Sunland Welcome Nature Garden
Thursday, April 27, 2023, 7:30 p/.m.: Supporting natural habitats in our own communities — Successes and call to action with chapter members: This will be an in-person talk at Eaton Canyon Nature Center, and will also be accessible on Zoom.
We will have four speakers on four examples of regular folks supporting natural habitats in our urban environment. Come and fFind out about the location and history of these natural habitats hidden among the urban sprawl, their challenges and successes, and how you can get involved or start your own.
Roger Klemm: Sunland Welcome Nature Garden
Barbara Eisenstein: South Pasadena Nature Park
Jesse Chang: The Richard Garvey Intermediate School Nature Garden, Rosemead
Gabi McLean: Santa Fe Dam Natural Area, Irwindale
Zoom instructions: This will be a hybrid meeting, both in person and on Zoom. To join the meeting via Zoom, click the following link:
https://cnps-org.zoom.us/j/82248610074?pwd=R1c2SGFvUjlIMUVsdWR1UmFxcTZmZz09
Passcode: 795450
Or by telephone: +1 720 707 2699 (Denver — long distance charges may apply)
Meeting ID: 822 4861 0074 Passcode 795450
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Past programs of our chapter: For a listing of past chapter activities over several years, see the Past Activities page.
Presentations from past chapter meetings: Click here to see video recordings or to download slides from selected chapter meetings.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement: At it's meeting on November 19, 2020, the chapter's board of directors adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Statement as an initial step to expanding the chapter's community engagement. Click here or the image to see the statement.
Email notification: If you wish to be notified by email of upcoming field trips, please click here to subscribe to our email list.
Leaders: Each outing has one or more appointed leaders. Unless an RSVP or registration is required, it is not necessary to contact the leader beforehand in order to participate. All you need to do is turn up for the event. You may be required to sign a liability waiver.
Plant walks are held on the second Sunday of each month except July and August.
Meet inside Eaton Canyon Nature Center on the back patio at 9:00 a.m. Then go on a leisurely walk, about 2 hours, through the native plant garden that surronds the Center and into the nearby wild areas. The walk is different each time — what's leafing out, flowering, in seed, etc., determines what your leade will talk about — and different leaders bring drifferent points of view.
Eaton Canyon Nature Center
Current plant walks cancelled: The plant walks usually held on the second Sunday of the month at 9 a.m. are currently cancelled.
We sponsor outings on occasional dates throughout the year, usually on a Saturday. The walking ranges from easy, typically on wide fire roads, to moderately strenuous, such as on forest trails. If a convenient place is available nearby, we love to picnic afterward. Weather is unpredictable; snow, rain, fire and ice cancel.
Important note: The chapter does not advertise all field trips in the newsletter. Instead we have two levels of field trip, those with dates known well ahead to places expected to be good regardless of the season; and spur-of-the-moment trips organized with 1 to 2 weeks of notice, based on seasonal conditions and notified via this web site, email, and Facebook. This gives us more flexibility in finding wildflowers in bloom or fall color at its peak.
Joshua Tree National Park
Sunday, April 2, 2023, to Friday, April 7, 2023: Joshua Tree National Park Camping Trip: Steve Hartman, CNPS Fellow, Past President, and desert plants specialist, is inviting CNPS members and native plant friends of Southern California CNPS chapters to this unique opportunity to explore and enjoy desert wildflowers at Joshua Tree National Park. Reservations are required — details below. Here is Steve's invitation:
Dear Desert Wildflower Enthusiasts.
This year has already started for wildflowers in the California Desert. I have scheduled a CNPS field trip to Joshua Tree National Park, April 2-7, having reserved two group campsites at Cottonwood Springs. Campsite 1 will allow 7 vehicles. Campsite 2 will allow 11 vehicles. Only tent camping is allowed (recreational vehicles and habitable trailers are prohibited); however, you can sleep in your car or van.
You will still have to pay for a park pass (or use your senior pass) to get into the park.
Check in is noon on Sunday, April 2. Check out Friday, April 7 at noon.
You must reserve a spot to attend (see bottom). If all spots in the group campsite are taken, you could try to make a reservation for an individual campsite at Cottonwood Springs.
Agenda:
- Sunday, arrive, explore around campsite and Cottonwood Canyon.
- Monday, caravan to explore JTNP
- Tuesday, day hike from campsite to palm oasis.
- Wednesday, caravan to other sites in JTNP
- Thursday, hike to Pinto Dunes.
- Friday, pack up. I’m trying to arrange a tour of the Mojave Desert Land Trust nursery on the way home on Friday.
Stay tuned!
Trip Leader:
Steve Hartman
818 469 2147
naturebase@aol.com
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: Please send your "reservation" to Steve via email at naturebase@aol.com and he'll send you a confirmation and details as the trip date nears.
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Past outings/field trips of our chapter: See the Past Events page.
Our chapter becomes involved in projects from time to time. Current and recent projects include:
Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area — Conservation and Outreach Project 2023
- Click here to learn about the project
- Click here to see current activities (the Volunteer Activities section below on this page)
Lily Spring Area Survey: Click here for the Lily Spring Area Survey page.
The Paintbrush Quest: A survey of Castilleja gleasoni, our chapter logo. Click here for the Paintbrush Quest pages.
Millard Canyon Project — a fundraiser in support of Altadena Foothills Conservancy
Next board meeting: See the Our Chapter page. Everyone is welcome.
Our Annual Plant Sale
Held in early November, typically the first Saturday, at Eaton Canyon Nature Center. See the Plant sale page for details.
Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area
Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area — Conservation & Outreach: Click here to learn about this chapter project.
Notices of public events associated with this project, such as plant walks, will be posted here and also above in the Field Outings section.
Regular weeding sessions usually take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and you may benefit from participating in a Weed ID Workshop. The latest workshop is on March 18. For details, including full current schedules, please email Gabi McLean at gabi.mclean@verizon.net.
Annual plant sale: Our chapter's plant sale (our major fund raiser) is usuallly held in early November. This year, 2023, it will be on November 4. There are lots of opportunities for volunteers at the plant sale — and it's a lot of fun. For details, see the Plant Sale Page.
South Pasadena Nature Park
Monthly volunteering at South Pasadena Nature Park: The South Pas Nature Park (officially the South Pasadena Arroyo Seco Woodland and Wildlife Park) is a four-acre habitat park along the Arroyo Seco in South Pasadena.
Each month volunteers weed and clean up in the park, and carry out improvement projects. Join us to meet your neighbors, enjoy the park, and make your community a better place.
Current volunteer Opportunities
Despite very little rain this winter, we had a modest display of wildflowers last spring. Throughout the pandemic period many people made good use of the park. The park lives on! And so regular development and maintenance continue! Please join us to remove litter and weeds, maintain paths, and enjoy the nature park with your neighbors. We are also working on a more welcoming and visible entrance (the Arroyo Entrance) from the recreational path that runs along the Arroyo Seco channel from Lohman Lane, along the golf course to the York Street bridge.
When and where
Location: 100 block of Pasadena Avenue in South Pasadena, east of York Street Bridge
Time: 9 a.m. to 12 noon
Dates (third Saturday, except in December):
Forthcoming dates:
2022: October 15, November 19 (including Smart Gardening Workshop at 10 a.m.), no work in December
2023: January 21 (planting party), February 18, March 19, April 15, Mary 20, June 17, no scheduled work in July and August
Dates are tentative. Please confirm on Facebook, WeedingWIldSuburbia, or email.
On the internet:
Wild Suburbia: http://www.weedingwildsuburbia.com/nature-park/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/South-Pasadena-Arroyo-Seco-Woodland-and-Wildlife-Park-153086364717751/
Email barbara.eisenstein@gmail.com for more information and to receive email announcements of park events.
Sunland Welcome Nature Garden (and traffic)
Volunteer opportunity: Sunland Welcome Nature Garden: The Sunland Welcome Nature Garden, a volunteer native plant garden on Sunland Boulevard at the 210 freeway, is a showcase of local native plants. Stop in and smell the flowers, visit the garden's Facebook page, or contact the garden's instigator Roger Klemm at treehuggers@ca.rr.com for more information or to join in the next workday.
A chapter of the California Native Plant Society, 2707 K Street, Suite I, Sacramento, California 95816-5113
CNPS San Gabriel Mountains Chapter, 1750 North Altadena Drive, Pasadena, California 91107-1046
All text on this page is Copyright © 2010-2023 CNPS San Gabriel Mountains Chapter unless otherwise indicated. All photos are Copyright by the authors.
