Heat Wave in the Nature Park

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The South Pasadena – Arroyo Seco Woodland & Wildlife Park (S. Pas Nature Park) is usually hotter than my home garden by a few degrees. It measured 114ยบ at home and so we were concerned about how new and old plants survived the heat wave in the park. As  expected, it was a mixed bag. Many trees, old and young, exhibited significant leaf burn. The golden current shriveled up and went dormant. The toyons had significant leaf burn and younger plants don’t look like there is much chance of recovery. Some plants, though, seemed to be just fine. Surprisingly, the narrow-leaf and showy milkweeds were green and lush. Laurel sumac was unfazed. Golden bush should be just fine. Many of the flowers of the Calif buckwheat dried up, but bees are still finding flowers to visit.

Here are two slideshows with pictures of the park. We can just hope that most of these plants will recover.

  • Quercus agrifolia
  • Berberis nevinii
  • coastal sage scrub
  • Eriogonum fasciculatum
  • coastal sage scrub
  • Asclepias fascicularis
  • Platanus racemosa
  • Malosma laurina
  • Malosma laurina
  • Coastal sage scrub
  • Entrance plants
  • Heteromeles arbutifollia
  • Heteromeles arbutifollia
  • Heteromeles arbutifolia
  • Heteromeles arbutifollia
  • Heteromeles arbutifollia
  • Heteromeles arbutifollia