More Secret Garden -- The Earthside Nature Center

A couple of weeks ago, after discovering the old Earthside Nature Center, I posted a series of photos and some narrative. Since then, I've tried to find out more about Earthside. I returned today for more photos and the discoveries continue.


The shrub/tree in the photo is a toyon, which is native to southern California. It is also known as the California holly.

Elizabeth Pomeroy, author of Pasadena: A Natural History, recalls Earthside Nature Center as "inspiring and verdant little oasis of California nature." She says, "I visited there often -- once inside, under the sycamores and beside the pond with its tadpoles, the city seemed far away."

This photo is taken from the south end of Earthside looking north to Del Mar Blvd. That's Eaton Blanche Park on the left, the Eaton Wash channel down the middle and Earthside on the right. There is a footbridge from Eaton Blanche over to Earthside. Can you see it?

The Southern California Edison power lines border Earthside on the east. I took this photo while standing in a grove of oak trees on the south end of the Earthside site. The building on the right is the Boys and Girls Club. Until a few years ago, a Christmas tree farm covered much of the land under the wires.

If you look hard, you can spot little signs around the Earthside site identifying plants and trees. Some of the identified plants remain. Others are gone.

There are also plaques dotted over the site on rocks, tables or posts, which bear the names of Earthside supporters.