Corralitas Red Car Property: Lupines!

Photo: s_d_m, February 26, 2017, via iNaturalist.  Native Arroyo Lupines are back on the southern end of the Red Car Property. 

Red Car Property: More Lupines

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 4, 2015.  Arroyo Lupines (Lupinus succulentus) are an annual native herb.  In other words, they must be allowed to go to seed if we are to see them next year.   (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Please don't pick the native wildflowers.  Enjoy them in their natural setting.  

Red Car Property: Please Don't Pick The Native Wildflowers

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 18, 2014.  Native Lupines are just starting to bloom after a couple years absence.  They reseed themselves quite well so it's best to let them run their course & go to seed.

Red Car Property: DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW, MARCH 5, 2013

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 27, 2013.  With little rain this year, native Arroyo Lupines are blooming when they're just a foot tall.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In case you haven't bothered to look at the stack of political propaganda crammed in your mailbox every day for the past few weeks, there's a City election tomorrow. 

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Community Residents' Association for Parks cannot endorse political candidates.  However, we are primarily focused on the City Council race for Council District 13,  where 12 men are running to replace termed out Eric Garcetti (who's running for mayor).  Why should you care?  The City Councilmember has a lot of influence over what type of development does or doesn't happen in his district.

Development history on the Red Car  Property dates back to 1905 (before it was even within the City limits).  Speculators have failed to develop the property since Peggy Stevenson was our City Councilmember (Mike Woo's predecessor).  Jackie Goldberg famously stood up to developers on the behalf of our neighborhood when we defeated a zone change at the City Planning Commission in 1995.

We suggest you look closely at candidates' records of work in the community and note which ones have carpetbagged in hopes of being the next liberal "Chosen One." 

Follow the money: LA City Ethics Dept website

See also:
The Eastsider Ballot Box
LA Times CD13 endorsement

Red Car Property: Vernal Equinox, Last Night; First Full Day Of Spring, Today

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2012.  Arroyo Lupines (purple flowers) might get a little taller since we finally had some rain over the weekend. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Of course all those foxtails that just went to seed will grow too.

Vernal Equinox was exact at 10:14 PM, March 19, 2012.

Red Car Property: Growing Season All Screwed Up This Year

Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 16, 2012.  The early rain and unseasonably warm weather has native Arroyo Lupines blooming on the Red Car Property meadow, before the plants are even 3" tall. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Usually, lupines don't bloom until March, once they've grown a lot more.

18 Acre Elysian Park Parcel: Ribbon Cutting

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  City Council President Eric Garcetti introduced longtime activists, Christine Peters, the outgoing current and recently re-elected** President of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park (CCSEP) and Cecilia Dominguez, Elysian Valley Neighborhood Council, while kids frolicked on the new playground.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

**Corrected - thanks to a CCSEP boardmember.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  Former City Councilmember and State Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg joined Garcetti and community members from Elysian Valley and Echo Park for the ribbon cutting. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

The 18 Acre park site was once at risk for becoming a Foodcraft Coffee warehouse.  CCSEP fought the proposal as far back as 1989.  Goldberg was City Councilmember for the area when the site was acquired with Prop K funding in the 1990s.   

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  Unlike the Silver Lake Reservoir Meadow, dogs on leash are allowed on the 18 Acre Elysian Park Annex.  Always pick up after your dogs!  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  The basketball court closest to Riverside Drive always seems to be in use.  Rec & Parks took down the construction fence, leaving no fence behind the backboards to keep balls and kids out of Riverside Drive.  Last week, I brought this to the attention of CD13 deputy Alejandra Marroquin, who walked a Rec & Parks rep down to the site to address the potential disaster.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 28, 2011.  Lupines and California Poppies attract large bumble bees to the slope facing Riverside Drive.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: Please Don't Pick The Native Wildflowers!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 16, 2011.  Someone keeps picking the California Poppies blooming on the slope between the Viaduct Footings and the last house on Adelbert.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

This year we have a sad show of wildflowers on the Red Car Property.  Most likely, because brush clearance happened early, before everything went to seed last year. 

Very few native Lupines came back to the meadow on the south end of the Red Car Property. Blue Fiesta Flowers, California Poppies and Kotolo Milkweed are sorely lacking this year. The patch of California Fuchsia has mostly died off.  Golden Stars have yet to make an appearance.   Spanish Lotus is back and should bloom next month. 

Native wildflowers reseed themselves and return to the same spots year after year.  Unlike the non-native, invasive species, they don't take over an entire territory.  They cling to their small patch of earth, which is how I know where to find them every year. 

PLEASE DO NOT PICK THE WILDFLOWERS!  Let everyone enjoy them while we can.

Click here for the Red Car Property Neighborhood's catalog of native plants.

Red Car Property: Lupines Sparse This Year

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 7, 2011. Very few Lupines came up on the Red Car Property this year. The City came out earlier last year for brush clearance, before the Lupines went to seed. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: Lupines Near Adelbert

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 29, 2010. It is very unusual to see lupines this late in the season. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Corralitas Public Staircase: Tiny Lupines

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 24, 2010. Tiny lupines are blooming off the lower levels of the Corralitas public staircase. The flowers are smaller than my pinkie fingernail. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 24, 2010. CalFlora lists 60 species of native lupines in Los Angeles County; most are purple. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Click here for our neighborhood native plant catalog.

Red Car Property: Lupines

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 24, 2010. Native Arroyo Lupines are just beginning to shoot flowers up through the non-native grass on the Corralitas Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Click here for our neighborhood native plant catalog.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Anticlimactic City Council Vote

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 7, 2009. The Lupines near the historic Landacre Cabin are going to seed, along with the sunflowers and wild oats.

Yesterday, City Council voted to deny the neighbors' appeal and approve the zone change and subdivision for the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.

Post Mortem: Discs of Despair. The Eastsider LA

Red Car Property: Sunflowers

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 5, 2009. Sunflowers replaced the Lupines on the Meadow. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract Subdivision Decision Postponed Again

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 22, 2009. Arroyo Lupines (Lupinus succulentus) on the lower plateau of the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract appear to be a different variety from those on the upper slope, but the same as the lupines on the Corralitas Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

At today's City Council Planning & Land Use Management Committee (PLUM), the hearing was continued until April 28, 2009. May 8, 2009 is the date for a vote at the full City Council.

Last week City Planning issued another reconsideration of the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) with public comment open until April 20, 2009. Case Number ENV-2005-9337-MND, for 2400 Allesandro. City Planning contends the Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor does not go through the site. However a check of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy map would suggest otherwise.

This month, we're taking a close-up view of the natural beauty of our neighborhood. All Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract photographs published on the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog in March 2009, are of plants growing on the 3 large lots destined for destruction, if a developer gains final approval of his proposed subdivision.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Lupines Below Landacre Cabin

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2009. Lupines on the upper plateau of Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Lupines growing on the slope just below the closed-off portion of El Moran St. and the Landacre Cabin appear to be a different variety than lupines growing on the Red Car Property or Corralitas Drive. The Semi Tropic lupines have larger paler purple flowers on sturdier stalks, 3 to 4-feet tall.

If you can help us further identify this or any other plant we highlight here, please contact us: redcarproperty@gmail.com.


Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2009. Lupines just below the Landacre Cabin. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

This month, we're taking a close-up view of the natural beauty of our neighborhood. All Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract photographs published on the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog in March 2009, are of plants growing on the 3 large lots destined for destruction, if a developer gains final approval of his proposed subdivision.

Neighbors will be back in front of City Council's PLUM Committee on March 24, 2009.

Red Car Property: Lupines in the Meadow

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2009. Lupines blooming on the Meadow, with the 2 Freeway in the background. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Ten days ago, the lupines looked sparse on the Corralitas Red Car Property. Today, the distinctive purple stalks are sprouting all over the "Meadow" (the big open space, closest to the 2 Freeway).

Lupines on Corralitas Drive

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 3, 2009. Lupines on Corralitas Drive (below the log cabins) may be a variation of the lupines on the Red Car Property. The Corralitas lupines have fewer and smaller flowers on each stalk, and are arranged differently on the stalk. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Wildflowers Blooming on Red Car Property

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 3, 2009. Lupines are sparse on the Red Car Property this year. (Click on photo to enlarge.)