tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54083281661607217852024-03-04T20:11:12.612-08:00Rambling LAIlsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-28617135870246262272014-06-04T11:20:00.001-07:002014-06-04T11:27:47.467-07:00LOSING YOUR LAWN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #274e13;">TURF-FREE GARDENS OFFER DESIGN CHALLENGES--AND REWARDS</span></h3>
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<i><span style="color: #274e13;">From Arroyo Monthly Magazine, March, 2014</span></i></h4>
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At long last, the lawn has become passé in Southern California, and it’s about time. </div>
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Lawns are perpetually thirsty and California is in the grip of a record drought. Many municipalities are paying residents to rip out conventional grass and replace it with drought-tolerant landscaping. (In Pasadena, the rebate is a dollar per square foot of turf, up to $2,500.)</div>
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Still, even scoundrels have redeeming qualities and lawns have theirs: providing a soft, durable play space that’s easy to incorporate into a garden. “When you have grass, artistically it ends up being a fairly simple design,” says Laramee Haynes of Pasadena-based Haynes Landscape Design. A strong design becomes more vital in the absence of grass, he says, because the assemblage of plants replacing it can look “too busy.” </div>
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Despite the challenges, losing one’s lawn presents opportunities. Many lawn-liberated gardens in the San Gabriel Valley are exemplars.</div>
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The <a href="http://pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/losing_your_lawn/12853/">story continues on the Arroyo Monthly</a> website.</div>
Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-51977211152750561622014-06-04T11:10:00.000-07:002014-06-04T11:10:20.995-07:00UNFRIENDLY SKIES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB441lmTicU_fongGlBR5PsYy9TzcMJtD3v81eyBMwf8zrXIg5J2uy1Jnnbw74CteMQKezs7dLI5TCsN4ngntkEBifMmMh0pTGOiryvhyphenhyphen3iHlwoghf4AJUHu5JJ55xtD7Qg-raUMFWWqU/s1600/air_web_reg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB441lmTicU_fongGlBR5PsYy9TzcMJtD3v81eyBMwf8zrXIg5J2uy1Jnnbw74CteMQKezs7dLI5TCsN4ngntkEBifMmMh0pTGOiryvhyphenhyphen3iHlwoghf4AJUHu5JJ55xtD7Qg-raUMFWWqU/s1600/air_web_reg.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After years of progress, is Southland air still making us sick?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>From Arroyo Monthly Magazine, January, 2014</i></span></h4>
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If you’ve lived in the Pasadena area long enough, you remember those summers when you couldn’t see the San Gabriel Mountains for days on end. From those mountains, you’d look out on a brown pall of
pollution shrouding the L.A. basin.<br />
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The skies are clearer and cleaner now: The number of unhealthy air days in Southern California has been cut in half since 1976. And there hasn’t been a smog alert in over a decade. “We have done miraculous things through cleaner cars, better fuels, cracking down on refineries,” says Joe Lyou, who heads the nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air. The progress comes despite the region’s topography and growing population, both conducive to smog.
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But — cough, cough — many of us are still breathing bad air, and changing that will require even greater efforts to clean up the way we live, commute and do business in Southern California. The metropolitan L.A./Riverside/San Bernardino area continues to have the nation’s most severe air pollution problem (tied with the San Joaquin Valley). In 2012, the region exceeded federal health standards for ozone on 111 days. The state estimates that, every year, Southland smog — primarily ozone and particulates — causes 5,000 people to die prematurely, shortening some lives by as much as a decade. The monetary cost in lost lives, hospitalizations, lost workdays, etc., is estimated at a hefty $14.6 billion.
Part of our predicament is that the more public health officials study air pollution, the more health impacts they find, often at lower levels of exposure. “So the standards have gotten tougher over time,” says Lyou, also Governor Brown’s appointee to the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), a local regulatory agency. “The goalposts have been moved.”
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Read the <a href="http://pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/unfriendly_skies/12718/">rest of the story here</a>.Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-11424219425857764092012-04-13T16:26:00.002-07:002012-04-13T16:31:55.911-07:00Programmed to be Fat?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSmfHZ4KolO7ZwCUWsbu6KawquDQ6GqXPXerzcQVZ27XPaEjKUwTIjXUfoe8TDj2TahylLtj6xQoIiPC9CD4AhHeIyiZ-sd9ac50GnCYhVwgGyuEAM0PCzXvLwtjTlFUE8K_ZmdSKu7w/s1600/blum.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSmfHZ4KolO7ZwCUWsbu6KawquDQ6GqXPXerzcQVZ27XPaEjKUwTIjXUfoe8TDj2TahylLtj6xQoIiPC9CD4AhHeIyiZ-sd9ac50GnCYhVwgGyuEAM0PCzXvLwtjTlFUE8K_ZmdSKu7w/s320/blum.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731031305442718386" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">Obesity is at epidemic proportions in this country.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">But what if some people are overweight, not only because of the brownies they eat, but because of the plastic containers they store them in?</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">The conventional theory goes that people become obese because they take in more calories than they burn off. But molecular biologist Bruce Blumberg says it’s more complicated than that. </p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">"If it were a simple problem, a matter of balancing our caloric checkbook, no one would be fat," says Blumberg. "We are not a country full of lazy people who just eat everything in sight."</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">In his lab at UC Irvine, some of his mice are obese. Blumberg made them that way, but not by overfeeding them.<br />"My mice become fatter on a normal diet," Blumberg explains. "That’s only because they were exposed to this chemical in the womb."</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; "><br /><i><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/madeleine-brand/2012/04/09/25936/certain-chemicals-can-increase-chance-of-obesity-s">Listen to my story</a> for Southern California Public Radio.</i></p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; "><br /></p></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-36979533968337525482012-03-16T12:04:00.003-07:002012-03-16T12:12:30.732-07:00FALLEN FOREST<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzB4nMOU9R-_dpqBOmVKz4OUO9jOGvFnD-tBDblvaGcLAumuMfPv-1PWlZ-N5vzuJccBEaRaSTcsUGMumbJa7AGscRo6b1v1fwcncxX22D8lYkiTxuEkXHZZyz0cBd9M1uPG9XEKga-s/s1600/pine.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzB4nMOU9R-_dpqBOmVKz4OUO9jOGvFnD-tBDblvaGcLAumuMfPv-1PWlZ-N5vzuJccBEaRaSTcsUGMumbJa7AGscRo6b1v1fwcncxX22D8lYkiTxuEkXHZZyz0cBd9M1uPG9XEKga-s/s320/pine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720573778752457730" /></a><b>Evaluating urban forestry after the recent severe windstorm<br /></b><br />From March 20012 issue of <i>Arroyo Montly Magazine<br /></i><br />When thousands of trees toppled in last November’s fierce windstorm, it was a reminder that urban trees, those gentle giants, can pack a powerful punch. Pasadena and Altadena are still littered with stumps, uplifted sidewalks and orange cones. The event has prompted soul-searching among arborists and tree lovers over the challenges of sustaining urban forests.<br />The loss of so many mature trees — more than 1,500 in Pasadena alone --- isn’t just an aesthetic issue; it means hotter, more polluted neighborhoods for years to come. “Large trees, particularly conifers, are like giant air filters,” explains Rebecca Latta, a former Pasadena tree superintendent. “They intercept large particle pollution that can get into your lungs.”<br />It’s a calm January day, and Latta is surveying some of the damage in north Pasadena. She examines the slanting 8-foot-tall stump and exposed roots of a deodar cedar. A resident has wrapped the tree with green-and-white barricade tape reading “killer tree.” “The winds were coming from the north and pulled the root plate up,” says the consulting arborist and oak specialist based in Glendora. “You can see the roots came up a long way, so there had to be tremendous force placed on top of this very tall tree.” Indeed, wind speeds approached 100 miles an hour in the unusually destructive storm; meterologists considered it a ferocious variation on the gentler and warmer Santa Anas typical of the season.<br />Latta notes the winds especially “devastated the really tall trees — Canary Island pine, deodar cedar, stone pine.” Some trees probably toppled simply because of the velocity. But the demise of others can, at least partially, be attributed to the challenges of growing trees in parkways. “Street trees have to be maintained in a situation where they have limited root space,” says Latta. “And, in some cases, the trees will pull up the sidewalk, curb and gutter, so those trees will have their roots pruned when new sidewalks are put in.” That makes trees less stable.<br />Inadequate watering regimes also threaten both street trees and their brethren in home gardens. That’s because trees and lawns have fundamentally different water requirements, as horticulturist Barbara Eisenstein is quick to point out. “Watering once or twice a week for 10 minutes is not good for trees,” she says. “The water doesn’t soak down very far; trees want a much deeper root system and you want to water them infrequently and really deeply.”<br />The storm was so intense at Eisenstein’s South Pasadena home — small branches flying everywhere, windows blowing open, dust swirling around the house — that she worried her mature avocado and deodar cedar would crash onto the Craftsman home. They didn’t, perhaps because of the care she’d given her trees. Eisenstein had removed the lawn around both trees and replaced it with mulch, which allows for less frequent watering and prevents root rot. Another tip: Cap or remove irrigation systems around trees so they don’t spray the trunks. “There should be no watering [next to the tree],” says Latta, “If the soil is too wet or the soil is compacted you don’t have enough oxygen in the soil or the exchange of gasses that tree roots need to be healthy.”<br />Pasadena is hiring a consultant to undertake a storm post-mortem, analyzing how its street tree practices might be improved. The findings are expected to be released to the public in the spring. Meanwhile, Forestry Superintendent Kenneth Graham says, the city hands out care guidelines to residents when workers plant new street trees, advising, among other things, “not to grow any groundcover adjacent to tree trunks.” He notes that the city trims and inspects street trees every five to seven years, depending on the kind of tree. Latta says that for some trees, that’s not often enough.<br />And many trees, both municipal and residential, suffer from sloppy pruning. A lot of cities have cut their tree maintenance funds, and Eisenstein says they often contract with companies that charge less and aren’t as diligent. Pasadena, however, has increased its street tree budget in the last decade.<br />Perhaps the worst offender is Southern California Edison, which prunes — no, hacks --- trees near power lines, lopping off their tops in a bad buzz cut. “Trees should never be brought down, called ‘heading back’ or ‘topping,’” Eisenstein says. “As soon as you cut a branch in the middle like that, it sends out multiple shoots that aren’t attached to the stem very well.” The new shoots are weaker and the dense regrowth creates more wind resistance.<br />For homeowners, finding a good tree service can be a challenge. Latta says even she struggles to find qualified crews. She recommends making sure a certified arborist supervises any pruning and that the arborist doesn’t leave your job site until the crew is done cutting. It also helps to hire a consulting arborist who specializes in the tree species you have.<br />As Latta continues her tour, she points out more stumps in Altadena, then drives by a spot where trees blown over in a previous storm have not been replaced. Pasadena officials say they’re optimistic they can secure grants and other funds for replanting, although they acknowledge the city faces financial constraints. But Latta wonders aloud whether L.A. County will have the money to reforest Altadena. “All these cities --- Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, La Cañada --- have really amazing urban forests,” she muses. “I think the legacy we leave our children is to replant and to maintain the trees we have so we don’t lose them.” And even if the fallen are replaced, it will be decades before the saplings grow into the giants that stood before the storm.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Click through for Barbara Eisenstein's <a href="http://www.wildsuburbia.blogspot.com/2012/02/tree-care-part-2-training-young-trees.html">Tips on Planting and Caring for Trees</a></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-43284747866036914622011-07-22T09:22:00.000-07:002011-07-22T09:28:20.870-07:00State Parks In Crisis<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Q38CqC5aLD3fdieZZra_dAo53lIN5Rkym9_9NvQm3hOOo1dxLPrCoXzXY79QZ5xFb49y3rXbZEqIQEcDZSOQVfkEUFrGaC_XDTUlNcYBOPxsU5ExNgI9BvupDk6tNRUh-dquz1PJXK4/s1600/MalibuCreekSP.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Q38CqC5aLD3fdieZZra_dAo53lIN5Rkym9_9NvQm3hOOo1dxLPrCoXzXY79QZ5xFb49y3rXbZEqIQEcDZSOQVfkEUFrGaC_XDTUlNcYBOPxsU5ExNgI9BvupDk6tNRUh-dquz1PJXK4/s320/MalibuCreekSP.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632213704774569378" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">Because of a 25 percent cut to its budget, California's Department of Parks and Recreation is planning to close one quarter of all state parks by next summer. While this has upset park advocates, the state parks system faces another serious issue: The parks that will remain open are in need of maintenance.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">One of them is Malibu Creek State Park. Its beautiful red peaks, willow-lined streams and oak woodlands have appeared in scores of movies and TV shows, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and MASH.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">But under the sunny spotlight of a recent 90-degree day, a close-up reveals the starlet’s beauty is fading.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; "><a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/05/29/26967/even-state-parks-remain-open-are-bad-shape/"target=_blank">Listen to this story</a> on KPCC.org.</p><div><br /></div></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-8568205704603277372011-04-20T10:29:00.000-07:002011-04-20T10:35:33.824-07:00States Struggle to Rein in Runaway Garden Plants<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eUnofXU2eqJWDoGryCLklqp98AaqWpX8aptFIkjGFvRV_oM63Ihr9wLQ1Aden5qXtHG9k0CgZdVAaaR_f_AU1FAr-Er5xwLA4jpEkFgMPo5KW4Cr-oS_Iohrn30WhDFoTfnBAa3PqKo/s1600/fgrass.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eUnofXU2eqJWDoGryCLklqp98AaqWpX8aptFIkjGFvRV_oM63Ihr9wLQ1Aden5qXtHG9k0CgZdVAaaR_f_AU1FAr-Er5xwLA4jpEkFgMPo5KW4Cr-oS_Iohrn30WhDFoTfnBAa3PqKo/s320/fgrass.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597720049081100818" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 22px; ">On a misty summer morning, ecologist Christy Brigham sinks down to the sand at Point Mugu State Park, part of the patchwork of federal, state and private lands in Los Angeles County's Santa Monica Mountains. She watches a darkling beetle forage among rare dune plants -- lacy, lavender sand verbenas and beach primroses, which resemble large buttercups. When Brigham came to this area eight years ago to work for the National Park Service, she thought she'd become an expert on plants like these, part of the region's unique Mediterranean-climate flora. But instead, she's spent most of her time dealing with common plants, many of them fugitives from local gardens and nurseries. <i>Continue reading on the <a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.6/todays-garden-plants-can-be-tomorrows-invasives"target="_blank">High Country News</a> website.</i></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 22px; "><br /></span></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-33658650006040863332011-03-01T10:42:00.001-08:002011-03-01T10:52:27.935-08:00Flights of Fancy: South Pasadena Butterfly Garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupvzCbOxVlMEI_MNZPR5lq73ygxCZ5GwmTZUEdgshH-heHGaI7kkJTgHn58d6IeMTZGzRQOenPo_ARW8eHiaOKrlffzWBj5ntCrlF3rI0e9x0XBvIB-c372bVIckz-gdvsJkZaOBgcpo/s1600/painted+lady.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupvzCbOxVlMEI_MNZPR5lq73ygxCZ5GwmTZUEdgshH-heHGaI7kkJTgHn58d6IeMTZGzRQOenPo_ARW8eHiaOKrlffzWBj5ntCrlF3rI0e9x0XBvIB-c372bVIckz-gdvsJkZaOBgcpo/s320/painted+lady.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579184894153417938" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><div>When Barbara Eisenstein and her husband, Jim, moved into their South Pasadena home a dozen years ago, it was like many in the neighborhood: an architecturally significant home — a 1910 craftsman — surrounded by a fairly banal garden. The grounds were mostly lawn, albeit studded with mature trees. A few birds perched in the oak, but it wasn’t the miniature nature preserve that encircles their home today. </div><div> </div><div>Over the years, the lawn lost ground and was supplanted by wildlife-supporting native shrubs, including ceanothus and sages, and herbaceous plants such as monkey flower, penstemons and yarrow. Today the garden pulses with vibrant colors, bird song and the slurping and munching of lizards, caterpillars, butterflies and other small dinner guests.</div><div><br /></div><div>Read <a href="http://pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/flights_of_fancy/9834/" target="_blank">the rest of this piece</a> on Arroyo Monthly's website.</div><div><br /></div><div>AND check out the extensive sidebar (exclusive to the print edition and reproduced here) on how to attract these popular butterflies:</div><div><br /></div><div> <p class="MsoNormal">SWALLOWTAILS</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In addition to the giant swallowtail, two others frequent local gardens. Named for the tiger-like stripes on their yellow wings, Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) will drink from a variety of plants commonly found at nurseries, including lantana and aster family plants such as zinnia. Eisenstein grows native seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus) and a variety of sunflowers. These swallowtails deposit their eggs primarily on sycamore trees, but they also use poplars, cottonwood, willows and alders. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) is also abundant here, because exotic sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) has become a roadside weed and wildland invader. Skip the fennel; attract it with native plants from the carrot family.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">COMMON BUCKEYE</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Despite the name, these small brown butterflies are uncommonly lovely. Their wings are adorned with large eye-like spots in a kaleidoscope of blues, yellows, pinks, orange and black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“One of the reasons buckeyes are still relatively common in Southern California is because their caterpillars eat members of the snapdragon family,” says Karner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He adds, don’t panic if your snapdragons get chewed up. The plants will rebound—perhaps growing even more vigorously—and know that “you’re going to get some nice butterflies out of the deal.” Eisenstein’s garden features another buckeye host plant—native monkey flower (mimulus species).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">LADIES<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is sometimes called the cosmopolitan because it’s thought to be the most widespread butterfly globally. This small orange and black insect migrates into Southern California from Mexico in late winter/spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s the one school kids rear in classrooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Among the plants that host its young are lupines, mallows—even a vacant-lot plant called cheese weed--and thistles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Native and exotic mallows are easy to grow. Lupines provide a gorgeous blue accent in a native plant garden; they are nature’s complement to orange poppies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Resident West Coast ladies (Vanessa annabella) will frequent the same plants. Both species sip from sunflowers and buckwheats (Eriogonum species). Eisenstein grows California buckwheat. It sports little orbs of creamy white-to-pinkish flowers that dry to a rust color.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">CLOUDLESS SULPHUR</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This pretty pale yellow butterfly has become rare in recent years. It depends on native cassia and senna plants. The exotic ones found in conventional nurseries don’t do the trick, according to Karner. So ask your local nursery to order the natives, or visit the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley or Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">MONARCH</p> <p class="MsoNormal">These charismatic orange and black butterflies only deposit their eggs on milkweed plants. The black, yellow and white-striped caterpillars nurse on the plants’ alkaloid sap, which makes them toxic to predators. Exotic milkweeds are readily available, but some research suggests they leave the butterflies more vulnerable to parasites than the natives do. A good source for milkweed seed is Butterfly Encounters.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When positioning milkweeds, keep in mind that some are not beauties, and the voracious caterpillars will defoliate them. It’s the butterflies that dazzle.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">GULF FRITILLARY</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This pumpkin-colored butterfly, with black and silver accents, is native to Mexico and the Southeastern U.S. The grey caterpillars brandish horizontal orange stripes and black spines. The insect moved into coastal California when its host plants—passion vines—became popular in gardens. Avoid blue crown passion flower (Passiflora caerulea): it’s a weedy plant that can escape gardens and damage wildlands. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-78446455292380125032011-02-23T18:50:00.000-08:002011-02-23T18:52:44.755-08:00Butterflies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTGlEIH4gXoOLBE8rHx8qvzWIP12EcbK3WgRbSuL0e7zfJ5PpCxJ1SPyorjG4SrA8dpd7vOUfmeT8vzSinn0omCwyPoR29m2e2pubb0Aq41utjUqBFzKXxjBxVUKRB74JmMeyxv6-Cuw/s1600/Monarch.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTGlEIH4gXoOLBE8rHx8qvzWIP12EcbK3WgRbSuL0e7zfJ5PpCxJ1SPyorjG4SrA8dpd7vOUfmeT8vzSinn0omCwyPoR29m2e2pubb0Aq41utjUqBFzKXxjBxVUKRB74JmMeyxv6-Cuw/s320/Monarch.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575193064272434674" /></a>Meet Frank. He's a monarch butterfly that my son and I raised. We don't actually know the insect's gender, but that hardly matters to a four-year-old.<div><br /></div><div>Butterfly gardener extraordinaire Connie Day gave us two caterpillars from her garden, which is a certified <a href="http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/" target="_blank">Monarch Waystation</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We reared them inside (mostly) on a milkweed plant, which provided all they required, except water drops. We placed the plant inside one of those netted cages you use to <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2009/04/butterflies-are-free.html" target="_blank">raise painted ladies</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some articles I reported recently afforded me the opportunity to engage Brent "the bug guy" Karner of the LA County Natural History Museum in an extended conversation about butterflies. A portion of the discussion was broadcast last weekend on KPCC's Off-Ramp. <a href="http://66.226.4.226/programs/offramp/2011/02/19/butterflies-butterflies-butterflies/" target="_blank">Check it out</a>.</div><div><br /></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-79915641396867107292011-02-18T16:22:00.000-08:002011-02-18T16:29:07.639-08:00Meet the Bark Beetles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndDe5AW4DzMxCfRDfqD3XC4MRVW1J3jqeKc01nzOXXjS1iTAdY1k86BV7bJ4q78lZQICgIZ1VmDXklXleWYidNmfqJQAldWyfIZsVb1gWYsllptZgDM2JkCcVqXY2IJcBPgMyCtMEUPY/s1600/barkbeetle.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndDe5AW4DzMxCfRDfqD3XC4MRVW1J3jqeKc01nzOXXjS1iTAdY1k86BV7bJ4q78lZQICgIZ1VmDXklXleWYidNmfqJQAldWyfIZsVb1gWYsllptZgDM2JkCcVqXY2IJcBPgMyCtMEUPY/s320/barkbeetle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575190208326231330" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">In the last decade, tiny forest-dwelling beetles have wiped out pine trees on millions of acres in the Canadian and American West, including Southern California. The rest of the state has been largely spared, but forest ecologists say that's likely to change.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Learn why in this <a href="http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201102180850/b"target="_blank">piece I reported</a> for KQED's <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/"target="_blank">Climate Watch</a>.</span></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-31374655127368842552011-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:002011-01-04T16:57:52.670-08:00Milkweeds for Monarchs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64sQ4POiv6UGml2SNn8h2YqnKLqaS4AMkizwxQDMrbKNKdWGLFJzMqCSJOR0i4MIseD8VJoNaYXXwhfYDgr4898zXsucwkPZvNRJtULekk1YjelbXrQzStdLDv802tAGBthXrCdpm2hc/s1600/monarch+cat.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64sQ4POiv6UGml2SNn8h2YqnKLqaS4AMkizwxQDMrbKNKdWGLFJzMqCSJOR0i4MIseD8VJoNaYXXwhfYDgr4898zXsucwkPZvNRJtULekk1YjelbXrQzStdLDv802tAGBthXrCdpm2hc/s320/monarch+cat.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558498741165294338" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; "><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">Dwindling monarch butterfly populations have prompted some gardeners to pepper their landscapes with milkweeds, the various plants in the Asclepiadaceae family on which monarchs lay their eggs. Chubby, zebra-striped monarch caterpillars gorge themselves on the plants' milky alkaloid sap, which makes them poisonous to birds.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">The question for many isn't whether to grow milkweed, but how -- and which kind.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "></p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">In Connie Day's Santa Monica garden, a tiger-colored monarch spars with another butterfly, chasing it from a patch of milkweeds.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">"The challenge is keeping the food here," Day says, noting that a few monarchs can defoliate a plant in a couple of weeks.</p><p></p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">Read the rest of this story in <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/01/milkweed-for-butterflies.html"target="_blank">LA Times Home</a>. </p></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-68176783830102070122010-12-12T12:30:00.000-08:002010-12-12T12:40:06.251-08:00Octopus's Garden<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Leo Carrillo State Beach</span><div><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/njSrgKbEku4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/njSrgKbEku4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Last Sunday we spent a glorious afternoon peering into the homes of starfish, crabs, anemones and octopi. </div><div>Exceptionally low tide exposed lots of rocky reef at Leo Carrillo (pictured in video above). Tufts of eelgrass made some rocks look like punk-rocker heads, i.e. topped with green hair. Ten-foot-long strands of giant kelp (<i>Macrosystis pyrifera</i>) lay limp, offering a good look at their holdfasts (the bottom of the plant that anchors to the seabed). </div><div>Giant kelp, I'm told, is the largest marine plant known on earth, capable of growing to 100 feet in about a year. </div><div>My son enjoyed gently touching Pacific sea stars (<i>Pisaster ochraceus</i>) and anemones (<i>Anthopleura sola</i>), as well as observing hermit crabs. </div><div>Mom was thrilled to see two tentacles of a two-spot octopus (<i>Octopus bimaculoides</i>) before it wedged itself more deeply under a rock. These little guys are great camouflage artists, as well as contortionists. So look for them in crevices. This species takes its name from two, eye-like spots on its hood.</div><div>If you visit tide pools, please tread with extreme care. It's easy to squash the animals--especially soft-bodied ones such as nudibranchs--and with so many people visiting the beach, the impact is considerable. Never remove anything from a tidepool, even an empty shell--for one thing, you'll be messing with the hermit crab housing market. </div><div>Check out our <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2010/02/exploring-intertidal.html" target="_blank">previous intertidal romp</a> at El Matador State Beach.</div><div><br /></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-81255416178519329562010-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:002010-11-23T08:00:04.327-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuZkh_pZwClOZRuGLdX6oYLLRtZDmtXOM9l7KNt5DBPdDx-2mGeVqZ8GicYaPOf0ybs8jwjEXi-R_D0fv2zkRVy2yh6Ytf3pLtQDj_vg2HkDzibnLdeztk0raqsqNlS83zBu68MuEtQc/s1600/lilies.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuZkh_pZwClOZRuGLdX6oYLLRtZDmtXOM9l7KNt5DBPdDx-2mGeVqZ8GicYaPOf0ybs8jwjEXi-R_D0fv2zkRVy2yh6Ytf3pLtQDj_vg2HkDzibnLdeztk0raqsqNlS83zBu68MuEtQc/s320/lilies.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541370662888697010" /></a>This Summer I was fortunate to take a hike with Mickey Long, who supervises natural areas for LA County Parks and Recreation. I asked him to join me at one of the more depressing spots in the Angeles Forest front country--the trail from Chantry Flat to Stuartevant Falls. <div><br /></div><div>Although we spotted a number of wildflowers along the fire road descending into Big Santa Anita Canyon--including indian pinks and native delphinium (both pictured below)--we sampled a Smorgasbord of weeds: annual grasses, Spanish broom, euphorbia, arundo, bladder senna, eucalyptus, even rock roses. "Aesthetically there's something missing from the landscape," said Long, "both in form and function. The danger here is,</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4cIZD3YjswZXsVGkQceCm9VRxih6fkrAEPnl_WmiJuNtjgDYM1cX4u-PPwfkQaalGDQW3yQ9a-8QHmY45bDcBfHbG5Xrl5of0DAiap9URPFexHOxIxAz7NK4WkpsbgZGXrChyphenhyphen7WNpRI/s320/delphinium.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541370298274349874" />even though we're seeing plenty of native plant habitat, if a fire comes through, the weeds will get the upper hand." <div><br /></div><div>Long pointed out <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2010/07/lizards.html" target="_blank">Western Fence and whiptail lizards</a>, hunting for bugs in the underbrush. He said the non-native grasses don't support the variety of insects that the native plants do. </div><div><br /></div><div>Things didn't get any more cheerful when we arrived at the stream.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DgUuEWavxsH5tPPXdMhkSZwNuLeRtp34bn7vLeVd9T8WbE3mCXtlYQNIfU94-YL3exFCcVwXdnQqjiOU-CsO9uBvSaWE68TP2uJC3rdNQevPq0ynr4xWS78QWbnGtbe-xjeA4qORwgw/s320/indianpinks.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541370158406794770" /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div>English ivy blankets 3.5 miles of stream bank. </div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Cabin owners planted the ivy decades ago and it's run amok. To keep the alders alive, they clip it off of the trunks. But the ivy (with a little help from some Himalayan blackberry) has crowded out most of the native plants. On a subsequent trip I counted only three Humboldt lilies (pictured up top) persisting along the stream.</div><div><br /></div><div>Long said no one has studied the effect of the ivy infestation on native animals, but "there's not too many ways this could be beneficial to a native animal." Amphibians need to be able to move from the stream where they breed and to the adjacent hillside where they burrow. "They need to feed as they move around, and I don't know what food sources are left under there."</div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn more about garden plants that threaten wildlands in these <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/11/22/bad-seeds-part-1-invasive-plants-harm-native-plant/"target="_blank">stories I reported</a> for KPCC-FM.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-29325506927764993922010-11-17T10:41:00.000-08:002010-11-17T11:10:49.552-08:00Late Fall In Our Garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioShYfb690dhHfuUfw4c25abP4lBCBLvw2Er9muM7ULjXzJO-KLam8r_whsY1oWWjCwZOR-oe8IHYgSUMM0BVNGh9fWWtnEsUWJ6VxBn9pPAT8zV0yTRJQV6BbpirEaVMF1Nd7HnjPkCQ/s1600/waxbeans.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioShYfb690dhHfuUfw4c25abP4lBCBLvw2Er9muM7ULjXzJO-KLam8r_whsY1oWWjCwZOR-oe8IHYgSUMM0BVNGh9fWWtnEsUWJ6VxBn9pPAT8zV0yTRJQV6BbpirEaVMF1Nd7HnjPkCQ/s320/waxbeans.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540591835853616658" /></a>Most of our summer edibles are gone. But one wax bean plant is still producing a profusion of shiny little beans. I assume they're tasty, but can't really say. My three-year-old has claimed them as exclusively his.<div><br /></div><div>It's a great strategy for getting kids to eat veggies. We steam up a batch of mostly store-bought green beans, topped with our homegrown yellow ones. My husband and I look longingly at the wax beans, but our son hordes them all.<div><br /></div><div>Another great kid veg: potatoes. Need I say it? They're fun to dig up. We've planted the remains of our last year's yukon golds and they're thriving. We stored the seed potatoes in a wine fridge over the summer. It's a small, 8-bottle cellar, so there was something of a Sophie's Choice going on all summer--more potatoes, less wine.<br /><div><br /></div><div>A lot of our last fall's seed was still viable this fall. Indeed, some of the lettuce and spinach seed I'd left in the fridge (in a plastic bag), took off immediately. </div><div><br /></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOaT9arr2cz-kaZsSO3WZTeEswqY0JbEYAmZuyVLNNt8l5uCS9CTOKQuNMMAEqCNWqc2K5p868fie2MWSnWHt0D9eHaZi5eOUxTSBm8jFCyWTXtSzRjqpAu0RmPl5AZOVIZGoK6QdwWQ/s320/beets.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540591429205109298" /><div>We're trying a new variety of beet this year. I bought some Bull's Blood from <a href="http://rareseeds.com/" target="_blank">Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds</a>. I'm already enjoying these gorgeous red greens in my salads.</div><div><div><div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-45361986004860083152010-11-10T15:21:00.000-08:002010-11-10T15:54:59.209-08:00Roses: The Fruits of Neglect<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKt1dGBxvZnKncIxZflDn04846SEb6fWD276sDvCbrjgZEqfUyizKeH9rWIaaDVoiTrrTmOYyp2v-K78Kl0pg0ESOCoh6h7FWhBY-6JNkgu-S3R6kEb-AYM2qr3BrE2phbUcRkDK5NoSQ/s1600/rosehips.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKt1dGBxvZnKncIxZflDn04846SEb6fWD276sDvCbrjgZEqfUyizKeH9rWIaaDVoiTrrTmOYyp2v-K78Kl0pg0ESOCoh6h7FWhBY-6JNkgu-S3R6kEb-AYM2qr3BrE2phbUcRkDK5NoSQ/s320/rosehips.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538066237892721554" /></a>I've finally had some time to work my garden. After some reluctance, I pruned my unruly rose bushes. <div><br /></div><div>Three of them top out over six feet tall, in part because I like them that way. They're surrounded by native sages and Mediterranean rock roses, and thrive on the same drip irrigation system and low-water regime. (I gave them supplemental water for the first couple years.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I hadn't pruned the roses since last fall. As a result they were loaded with persimmony rose hips. I thought of it as my fall color, and the bushes looked far happier in the hot fall than had I tried to keep them blooming.</div><div><br /></div><div>A few years ago Emily Green, who currently writes the<i> LA Times</i> Dry Garden column, wrote a brilliant piece about leaving roses alone. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/la-hm-roses22apr22,0,1325169.story" target="_blank">Check it out</a>. It will make you long for the days when newspapers gave writers the space to write like this. Or at least some of them. Few write as well as Green.<br /><br /></div><div>Now, if only the weeds would pull themselves.</div><div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-66308592767213599822010-10-24T15:20:00.000-07:002010-10-28T13:58:07.708-07:00Climate Change<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ScQx2CQZsxsyttgNB1QkQhcVIXlv5-D08fgXWE_kHEJyq0LGAkqoPJwkUbLhYq-lCgeiMog4_8Ti1hZFoAfwAGR7MQIxc9uQiliNf3W51r3jSHlRzs4CPyBvCfqogmJAhs9l5naQEIg/s1600/DSC00017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ScQx2CQZsxsyttgNB1QkQhcVIXlv5-D08fgXWE_kHEJyq0LGAkqoPJwkUbLhYq-lCgeiMog4_8Ti1hZFoAfwAGR7MQIxc9uQiliNf3W51r3jSHlRzs4CPyBvCfqogmJAhs9l5naQEIg/s320/DSC00017.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531736055021204786" /></a>Yikes! I've been away from this blog a really long time. I do have an excuse. A mountain lion ate my lap top. <div><br /></div><div>Okay, seriously, I was single mom all this summer. Then I was drowning in real work (as opposed to this blog, which is just me making unpaid work for myself). </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, among the projects keeping me from chattering is a new mini-gig contributing to <a href="http://www.kqed.org/climatewatch" target="_blank">ClimateWatch</a>, produced by bay area NPR-station KQED. In radio reports and on it's execellent blog, ClimateWatch covers the science, politics and personal stories of global warming from a California perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>My first post for the ClimateWatch blog is a <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2010/10/21/water-and-power/" target="_blank">Q&A with David Nahai</a>, former GM of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've just returned from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference, held this year in Missoula, Montana. Nobel-laureate <a href="http://www.cfc.umt.edu/PersonnelDetail.aspx?id=1139" target="_blank">Steve Running</a> offered a sobering overview of warming in that state over the last 40+ years: average temps up 1-2 degrees F, snow melting a couple weeks earlier, and aridification (stronger atmospheric evaporation) even though the precipitation is the same. The result, already: increased wildfires, bark beetles killing many conifers, and less water in streams in summer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Michael Gibson of Trout Unlimited told us lower stream flows and warmer water is prompting the state to shut down trout fishing in August to protect fish. In the next 30 years, he expects trout to lose 5-30% of their Montana habitat.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'd like to end on a cheery note, but, sorry, not this time.</div><div> </div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-46375837548390082712010-09-26T08:25:00.000-07:002010-09-26T08:32:32.717-07:00Potted<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzFRwikpQCPlcl6WwOEHne9bTdObOdOteYifqpSS34XUfT_lYmFVVw6SBVewQ_TtNjGDDN8jVWlq4EtcoCeJFZSSuQ0nix8ZxCc8b0wivXPN8QgZ5ZLwtVqb6mmQIXGU5ArkCuGEKd9Q/s1600/beebuckwheat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzFRwikpQCPlcl6WwOEHne9bTdObOdOteYifqpSS34XUfT_lYmFVVw6SBVewQ_TtNjGDDN8jVWlq4EtcoCeJFZSSuQ0nix8ZxCc8b0wivXPN8QgZ5ZLwtVqb6mmQIXGU5ArkCuGEKd9Q/s320/beebuckwheat.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521245062903430258" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;font-size:14px;"><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont displays the ravishing beauty of California's wild plants. But the setting is so operatic, it can be hard to imagine this flora on a smaller stage, say, a patio or apartment balcony.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">Unless you happen upon a nook where native plants are potted up for a more intimate performance.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">On a foggy morning, a hummingbird swoops in for a sip of Cleveland sage (<em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; ">Salvia clevelandii</em>, above). Impatiently, it probes the whorls of the petite lavender flowers. This sage is usually a sprawling shrub, but confined to a 5-gallon teal pot, the crisp reiterations of dainty leaves and blossoms have the restraint and precision of a Baroque concerto.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; ">Many of Rancho's pots are tall. Low-growing species are raised 3 to 4 feet off the ground, offering a bird's- or bug's-eye experience of these intricate plants.</p></span></div><div>Click here to continue reading <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/09/how-to-grow-native-plants-in-containers.html"target="_blank">my LA Times story</a>.</div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-29863606814047739852010-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:002010-09-12T09:35:06.172-07:00Trumpet Zucchini<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirO0drTTU3JPONtzRdsPTtTbiajXLfQd2lgsfPN2S4_OQPLmRwIFKU6OJfuAG7wLkJZ9AFXwYReXMkdhroef62h7wM8iGRDJ6QFkfy_tmOW81uPPyXHwcpncm124D0pUoGyEY_ATcDmeY/s1600/zucchini2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirO0drTTU3JPONtzRdsPTtTbiajXLfQd2lgsfPN2S4_OQPLmRwIFKU6OJfuAG7wLkJZ9AFXwYReXMkdhroef62h7wM8iGRDJ6QFkfy_tmOW81uPPyXHwcpncm124D0pUoGyEY_ATcDmeY/s320/zucchini2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516061506482203666" /></a>What possessed me? Who slipped me the silly pill that made me decide to grow <i>two</i> zucchini plants this summer? <div><br /><div>I wanted to add a new kind, while relying on an old standby. It still amazes me that someone--my aunt--could mail me a few innocuous seeds and one would turn into this:</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfCDRHtG8XYGJuBta_WaZV_9vJidM9iw2t0lG_eBUicDTZLLSLkyyYcFfrUfSGozK6F6k9CGPW-I3ogtx-F_AT3H5bMwRpTiYe6NRHQMvek5SGehkTx_DeREyHmRLBoHDl04mDkrMLX0/s1600/zucchini1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfCDRHtG8XYGJuBta_WaZV_9vJidM9iw2t0lG_eBUicDTZLLSLkyyYcFfrUfSGozK6F6k9CGPW-I3ogtx-F_AT3H5bMwRpTiYe6NRHQMvek5SGehkTx_DeREyHmRLBoHDl04mDkrMLX0/s320/zucchini1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516061402042258082" /></a>Zucchini rampicante tromboncino. This climber produces gorgeous curved or trumpet-like fruit. Many of mine have little leaves embedded along the side of the fruit, making them especially pretty as gifts. And, yes, I've had a lot to give. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>We turned a few into the best-ever zucchini bread. And we've enjoyed endless rounds of ratatouille. (Believe it or not, my kid loves it.) Any recipe requiring 3 or more cups of zucchini gets my attention these days.</div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-74368150805052818452010-08-30T15:32:00.000-07:002010-08-30T15:39:01.231-07:00Exploring with Kids<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJmDtXMd4p0gV2sRvwlCXHUm8d8emP1gHugarccW3DkxL8wgHjAXejLT79y7OEVB8ZLE2SQ3h8mcaDEOXQYQolLpaEtlol-xEhNdLyy8h7F4-PiKu3WZPTm_38m1JNbKxQFVS6qs1PZU/s1600/DSC_0029.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJmDtXMd4p0gV2sRvwlCXHUm8d8emP1gHugarccW3DkxL8wgHjAXejLT79y7OEVB8ZLE2SQ3h8mcaDEOXQYQolLpaEtlol-xEhNdLyy8h7F4-PiKu3WZPTm_38m1JNbKxQFVS6qs1PZU/s320/DSC_0029.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511334767127952306" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><div>It’s late on a hot summer night. I want my 3-year-old to lie down and sleep. </div><div> </div><div>He won’t — he’s busy nesting. Perched atop his scrunched-up blue blankie, he informs me “I can’t lie down, my eggs will get cold.” I suggest he keep them warm by lying on top of them. “They’ll break!” he wails. </div><div> </div><div>I’m guessing he was a sea turtle that night, because a recent trip to a turtle rescue center had made a big impression on him. But he could just as easily have been a flamingo or an alligator. Could there be anything cuter than Mateo pretending he’s an animal? Well, yes </div><div><br /></div><div>Read the <a href="http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/your_big_yard/9181/" target="_blank">rest of my story</a> from the September, 2010 issue of <i>Arroyo Monthly Magazine</i>.</div></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-63213734698502130022010-08-17T13:00:00.000-07:002010-08-17T13:00:02.749-07:00Recent Adventures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rFeA55VIZrlzA_ANS7ZpGyDBfByz6uxYhUlnpMqPoPRA_QotFUpnBcEN8Z5f-mUSs3wNhpRmWZfb3O6Enoxhr5CJHr5apiWZUVzDFpO4bl86VXKtHUgQpH6qvhtgvcIB5WpNp3wBjmM/s1600/littlehiker.jpg"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rFeA55VIZrlzA_ANS7ZpGyDBfByz6uxYhUlnpMqPoPRA_QotFUpnBcEN8Z5f-mUSs3wNhpRmWZfb3O6Enoxhr5CJHr5apiWZUVzDFpO4bl86VXKtHUgQpH6qvhtgvcIB5WpNp3wBjmM/s320/littlehiker.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506439563440944850" /></a>Would that every Southern California summer were this cool (current hot spell aside). My son and I have taken advantage of the weather to get out and about. <div><br /></div><div>Our biggest recent adventure was a trek up the stream bed at <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2009/06/nature-play-at-eaton-cayon.html" target="_blank">Eaton Canyon</a>. We were hoping to see frogs because there were so many tadpoles here in early summer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once we made it to the water, there was no stopping my three-year-old. Wearing his aquasocks (amphibious shoes), he trekked upstream, all the way to the bridge. </div><div><br /></div><div>We didn't see any frogs, but were surprised by what appeared to be a couple of aquatic snakes, and oodles of dragon- and damselflies. We also scooped up aquatic bugs for a closer look with a magnifying glass.</div><div><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YLMeOua3iE2JVwy03PwmsAqpxp79_HC4nBDdkq5RaAzvyjw6DTpCjDoGQ4BYrb4pi4KX6XLIICK9d_A2ljaejg728bUBaE4MYHT8_hyphenhyphenrQUt8-bJOP_wuVvCpjSGUAj0tTE4KjU6DoCA/s1600/streamboy.jpg"></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YLMeOua3iE2JVwy03PwmsAqpxp79_HC4nBDdkq5RaAzvyjw6DTpCjDoGQ4BYrb4pi4KX6XLIICK9d_A2ljaejg728bUBaE4MYHT8_hyphenhyphenrQUt8-bJOP_wuVvCpjSGUAj0tTE4KjU6DoCA/s1600/streamboy.jpg"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YLMeOua3iE2JVwy03PwmsAqpxp79_HC4nBDdkq5RaAzvyjw6DTpCjDoGQ4BYrb4pi4KX6XLIICK9d_A2ljaejg728bUBaE4MYHT8_hyphenhyphenrQUt8-bJOP_wuVvCpjSGUAj0tTE4KjU6DoCA/s320/streamboy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506439474235463810" /></a>My son was less keen on the terrestrial trek back to the car. But little doggies and girls commenting on his Kermit shirt kept him moving.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again, it was really hard to tear him away from the animal puppets at the nature center. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryFcA5PucFRfgH-uTjVfTSvECaQDloXk-RXYq5IuWRk4jMaCjySZ1_OmWWoD-LdDtvud5KE6JkOG6_8JF7KtW-1IdUCWHQTkxGvqrTVQ6nQvxmE0A19tXE2qXI9Fn1wNhTxBhIpDIzaw/s1600/debspond.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryFcA5PucFRfgH-uTjVfTSvECaQDloXk-RXYq5IuWRk4jMaCjySZ1_OmWWoD-LdDtvud5KE6JkOG6_8JF7KtW-1IdUCWHQTkxGvqrTVQ6nQvxmE0A19tXE2qXI9Fn1wNhTxBhIpDIzaw/s320/debspond.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506439283727376178" /></a>In late July we also enjoyed a visit to the <a href="http://ca.audubon.org/debs_park.php" target="_blank">Audubon Center at Debs Park</a>. We spread a blanket next to a pond, and had a simple picnic. My son dug in the sand and climbed rocks; I enjoyed the birds and insects. Together we pretended to be bears in the little cave. Baby bear gave mom bear a time-out. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Some people say personification of animals is a bad thing," says the Audubon Center's director Jeff Chapman, "but at a young age that kind of feeling and connecting with wildlife is a really good thing in my opinion. It’s a natural empathizing thing that young children have with animals."</div><div><br /></div><div>Chapman encourages kids to share their discoveries on a board at the Center and on the nature website <a href="http://www.ebird.org/" target="_blank">eBird</a> (a joint project of Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology). "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Audubon prides ourself on taking science and bringing it to regular people," he explains. "And allowing them to have a personal stake in feeding the world with information." </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ81VJhHpNGwUsY0PZdiXCdextWbv5s6fSTC9ZBU32JwMz_aDdp9n6SZrAX2D2bSUNy8FtM70xqWTYMHQBw1jc7xxGwlrO61vSXBZ0rt1wt79NAq8g9kSSar2T_uBFGyK6mK3LsNeZmM/s1600/dragonfly.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ81VJhHpNGwUsY0PZdiXCdextWbv5s6fSTC9ZBU32JwMz_aDdp9n6SZrAX2D2bSUNy8FtM70xqWTYMHQBw1jc7xxGwlrO61vSXBZ0rt1wt79NAq8g9kSSar2T_uBFGyK6mK3LsNeZmM/s320/dragonfly.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506438824928273026" /></a>Find out about the <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2009/05/picnic-in-park.html" target="_blank">other side of Debs Park</a>.</div></div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-58864585796722403842010-07-30T14:48:00.001-07:002010-07-30T14:51:12.053-07:00Kern County Emerges as Powerhouse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCgqe04TVXuN7XCvFrGLn_RUyzIAdSesfrByH0s0wiaNTXrhtzjgPaTc4DPI60fU3QXH3k6IU0O8C4UPKgoNm9qOHG7bXfoKj6TBln3zY6zFDZT0tWeFVp4RGRePjGb5WXyu8JeZYA4U/s1600/Tehachapi+Wind+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCgqe04TVXuN7XCvFrGLn_RUyzIAdSesfrByH0s0wiaNTXrhtzjgPaTc4DPI60fU3QXH3k6IU0O8C4UPKgoNm9qOHG7bXfoKj6TBln3zY6zFDZT0tWeFVp4RGRePjGb5WXyu8JeZYA4U/s320/Tehachapi+Wind+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499819605160938610" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">If you drive about half an hour north of Palmdale, you’ll find yourself in the foothills of Kern County ’s Tehachapi Mountains. They’re studded with Joshua trees, that sparse icon of the Mojave. But a new symbol is also rising, reaching its limbs into the desert sky.</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">Planted amidst the Joshuas: more than 3,000 wind turbines, resembling large white pinwheels. The older models are about six-stories-high. The newest are taller than the statue of liberty. Standing next to the turbines, Kern County planner Lorelei Oviatt says, “You’re actually in the middle of a 223,000 acre wind area that Kern County has set aside, where we hope we can site enough wind for over 3 million households.”</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; ">Read the <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/30/kern-county-developing-big-solar-wind-en/"target="_blank">rest of my story</a> on KPCC.org</p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; font-size: 14px; "><br /></p></span>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-49386901284987021062010-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-28T10:12:23.110-07:00Gold Rush of Green Power?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1XEBlFu7O-Ya3PrnXGax3nZsiI0EJmwyYvb-1CX8eWC6ZGozrFDZAcpDJ4fKcTGdRA1r97d5EeLiobFfFagPY1Gt4JeqaFaoW9fLiDciubK-fr-yZaHNIa2sbo2to7pJa4WzsdfU79s/s1600/Tehachapi+Wind+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1XEBlFu7O-Ya3PrnXGax3nZsiI0EJmwyYvb-1CX8eWC6ZGozrFDZAcpDJ4fKcTGdRA1r97d5EeLiobFfFagPY1Gt4JeqaFaoW9fLiDciubK-fr-yZaHNIa2sbo2to7pJa4WzsdfU79s/s320/Tehachapi+Wind+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498738010266371346" /></a> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>In reporting a forthcoming radio story on the rush of alternative energy projects in California’s Kern County, I spoke with V. John White, director of the </i><a href="http://www.ceert.org/" target="_blank"><i>Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies</i></a><i>.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>The story takes listeners to the </i><i>Tehachapi</i><i>-Mojave Wind Resources Area, and airs tomorrow on </i><a href="http://www.kpcc.org/" target="_blank"><i>KPCC</i></a><a href="http://www.kpcc.org/" target="_blank"><i>-FM</i></a><i>. Meantime, here’s a slice of my conversation with White.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Q: How’s California doing in its quest to tap renewable resources, ASAP?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A: We’re getting steadily better, I think. We spent a lot of time talking about doing renewables, but the fact is we’re still at roughly 15% renewable statewide.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That’s up a little bit from 12%. But we need to go much greater, to 20%-33% and beyond. That’s going to take significant effort, and I think we’re starting to get there. California had this big boom in the 80's and early 90's and then we stopped. And we learned a lot, but most of that experience went elsewhere and now we’re just getting back into it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Q: How Does Kern County figure in this picture. I believe the California Energy Commission a few years back projected the county would provide about 40% of the energy needed to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)—the alternative energy mandates for investor-owned utilities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A: They [Kern] have some of the best wind resources in the state that have yet to be developed--in the Tehachapi Mountains area. They also have, in parts of the county, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>very, very good solar resources. They also have proximity of transmission lines that bisect the wind and solar areas. So they have some very important advantages in terms of the resources they were blessed with.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">They have some expertise from having built, operated and planned these resources, so they’re also becoming leaders and innovators in the planning of these project. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Q: What’s the county’s environmental record?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A: [County planners have] looked at where impacts might occur and added some requirements for the developers to protect species--it's a sign of some leadership. Also, in the solar area they have given a lot of thought to the best places.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Q: Are California's strict environmental laws slowing the pace of alternative energy development?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A: It’s really a combination of things. In some cases it’s the transmission, interconnections, and in some cases there are federal wildlife reviews the state can’t do anything about. I think on balance CEQA [the California Environmental Quality Act] provides a means of identifying and reducing impacts from projects. CEQA is a burden for developers compared to other states, but as a result we get better projects with better mitigation and sometimes even less opposition because of the care and the time that is taken.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">CEQA is a proxy for a conversation between project applicant and community. I think what you have in Kern County is a moderator for the conversation that can help [energy developments] be successful. By anticipating there are problems that have to be solved, instead of like in Texas trying to approve them as quickly as possible, you avoid adverse consequences and you learn as you go in ways that improve the projects….</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Q: Kern County generally prefers to see wind and solar projects developed on private land. Sounds like good strategy economically and environmentally, yes?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A: I think that’s true. One of the problems with private land, however, is a lot of it is divide up into really small parcels. The [projects on] federal lands…it’s important they have an opportunity to get approved if they’re good projects. We have a great amount of economic stimulus money that we’re racing to try to capture by getting projects approved.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The thing about solar is you can still get a lot of energy from the land--with the right acreage--with very high solar radiation. [Public lands in] Kern County are in the Western Mojave, which has some of the best solar resources in the state and the whole country. And if projects are built there they can be smaller than comparable projects because of how good the radiation is. We have to recognize the scale of the energy we have to displace; the [vast] amount of energy we have to have to get off coal, fuel and electrical cars. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think what’s happening now is the urgency of putting people back to work, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use, have combined to create a sense of urgency that’s causing all the local governments, developers, and environmentalists to raise their game.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>American Energy companies are also look across the border for alternative energy. Listen to <a href="http://www.theworld.org/2010/04/29/mexican-wind-power-for-us-homes/" target="_blank">my story for The World</a>. </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-13883847837330366642010-07-20T10:30:00.000-07:002010-10-13T13:37:26.373-07:00Lizards<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGla95AN2e6MA8RqG3A8TXVImBUDPDc5LPbwgSzfB66JRXGjEV7mt9KiNJmP5uZuOzTRZ_jsanLCUqfA0dmo2V3TvepxNgiSfXxI1WHkr6SHwi_7khLkHqUrxhosmhLUEP71fulcmZtI/s1600/fence+liz.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGla95AN2e6MA8RqG3A8TXVImBUDPDc5LPbwgSzfB66JRXGjEV7mt9KiNJmP5uZuOzTRZ_jsanLCUqfA0dmo2V3TvepxNgiSfXxI1WHkr6SHwi_7khLkHqUrxhosmhLUEP71fulcmZtI/s320/fence+liz.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496041512519197378" /></a>As much as I love lizards, I haven't taken the time to learn much about them. The common ones I've usually assumed to be fence lizards, and left it at that.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a recent interview for a forthcoming radio story, I carelessly threw that label at this little reptile below. And was quickly corrected by biologist Mickey Long from the LA County Parks Department. It is, in fact, the California subspecies of <a href="http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/herps/uta-stan.html" target="_blank">slide-blotched lizard</a> (<i>Uta stansburiana elegans</i>).</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs56nM3OxYcG9hxbDI-vVDSjfLGrARsCxU8E3IgBKMpxx1YhLNVKO0V4Pv78MOe-wVzKL0g8BUXLO26ZOBQTDrPEy6YUUBVZRktukfuA9Pe8X6ErWeJcfc11dqJQYTlW51AtqY7EmmkDQ/s320/side-blotched+liz.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494994538472194002" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Long also pointed out this lovely <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/a.t.stejnegeri.html" target="_blank">coastal whiptail lizard</a> (<i>Aspidoscelis tigris stejnergeri</i>). This species moves fast.</div></div><div><div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojRLUtln65XVbKs2fA1Q7w8P9ontKjz4dObTCNFFOCSCyFhfi-rbG52zqeZC_8QtSXJEwWWJZHYjcXpdhZNaJm7A-25PvzUEJ7JntFcnV3yzw_y5TUo8DQqWND9m1qm5BeRcsf8-wULY/s320/whiptail+liz.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496038275752356834" /></div><div>If you've got lizards in you garden, they're likely the <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/e.m.webbii.html" target="_blank">San Diego Alligator Lizard</a> (<i>Elgaria multicarinata webbii</i>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, if you like your lizards big, head out to the desert. I saw this Chuckwalla in Joshua Tree this spring. (Definitely not a fence lizard!)</div><div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFVe7nZA1xbzIyTkF36uHNSNFBa0J_7awFrV3qemclurQ3aBeKfEtemK8yhn3dobjSAX7YS3nEC-awAr_CVu4eiJe-NRBGSGyYWPokbaFt4fxc9Sj-ppCLKUWyUtBzdX3twppxGuYv1I/s320/chuckwalla.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494994088559627474" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-24921842222318234542010-07-11T10:23:00.000-07:002010-07-11T10:50:47.101-07:00Summertime...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhicylMeT7Rt6X96d_-HwXSJcU05d3JHg2OUG6p7xupm-1mflpUF2Hjfbv3ZmzyV_yH1HclouyRw6BOc3Gx0IMVkqLYLGjzaAO93yqzCW3yP8xs9iKi6DA7YoWvMWHVAtAZedvav7Tws/s1600/mateopeach.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhicylMeT7Rt6X96d_-HwXSJcU05d3JHg2OUG6p7xupm-1mflpUF2Hjfbv3ZmzyV_yH1HclouyRw6BOc3Gx0IMVkqLYLGjzaAO93yqzCW3yP8xs9iKi6DA7YoWvMWHVAtAZedvav7Tws/s320/mateopeach.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492701131969663042" /></a>...and the eatin' is easy. We're gorging ourselves on red baron peaches. Yesterday, peach cobbler; tomorrow peach-rosemary jam.<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAv9C2UTs6JxegEUWCPvFNzSv0RTsXgdZMhdj-IOqyde7Q0OdNMTWx9m4aPQEJ-eeEr4M4L9zuyzXYo4O-69P_klS7nflfFdL2SNt4OjN82P5uEz3HqgsMsZIMwF60DPMAsjv3o0oz2s/s1600/zukebed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAv9C2UTs6JxegEUWCPvFNzSv0RTsXgdZMhdj-IOqyde7Q0OdNMTWx9m4aPQEJ-eeEr4M4L9zuyzXYo4O-69P_klS7nflfFdL2SNt4OjN82P5uEz3HqgsMsZIMwF60DPMAsjv3o0oz2s/s320/zukebed.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492701049834179026" /></a>We're a little challenged aesthetically this year as we had to defend our food from digging skunks and at least one very healthy rat (all those blueberries he ate, no doubt).</div><div><br /></div><div>In the bed above, Italian trombone squash (Zucchetta Rampicante Trombocino) is climbing a tomato cage and heading for a trellis. My aunt calls these "rumpa trumpas" and the name has stuck. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also love the Romanesco zucchini we planted next to it. My 3-year-old enjoys the star shapes it makes when sliced. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of our seed this year came from <a href="http://www.RareSeeds.com/" target="_blank">Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds</a> and <a href="http://www.reneesgarden.com/" target="_blank">Renee's Garden Seeds</a>. </div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeGEB-9lM-ySJUP78VtwC3iFgD2AlGrELnTic0KXwcawMu9uBvXjajfE_YlgekHpM40NB1Q2LVmaYBai8aKqX6FxE0RD10IQj06JFLoYwsg7-U_zUhfe2a7WYh2aKZqQcF0Tq7NK-VtI/s320/cuke.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492700836393813122" /><div> </div><div>The heirloom De Bourbonne cucumber is thriving. And the sungold tomatoes are producing, despite the unseasonably cool weather. </div><div><br /></div><div>Renee's "French Gold" beans are delish!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R5ZJy3gk7kJS_gaJgF-B6meyp9JS1Q9vzMq1jbz44LJSKpm6BtkdF10Wp4cDRMfSBBU8gBLZ9QoLEX7QzvmREhWuuGvMRTblLkaqCJSizb6JM0J-ry0LLslCl5aOToJeEkP5Mh3gGj4/s1600/lettuceflowers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 291px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R5ZJy3gk7kJS_gaJgF-B6meyp9JS1Q9vzMq1jbz44LJSKpm6BtkdF10Wp4cDRMfSBBU8gBLZ9QoLEX7QzvmREhWuuGvMRTblLkaqCJSizb6JM0J-ry0LLslCl5aOToJeEkP5Mh3gGj4/s320/lettuceflowers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492700958201377778" /></a>I've let some of my spring lettuce flower and the one above produced a lovely surprise.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-37065808477272543522010-07-03T10:54:00.000-07:002010-07-09T16:06:33.254-07:00AFTER THE FIRE: ANGELES FOREST<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0mOeWikt8rlPJ_NVo0TphbX_thuwigsojLq-Lx2zF5YVhnTw2lS66M_ejXAm13n2bVW_I1Q8-Z_1GuuWepnBsmMuVsqAKOxhOMBoVBDuqwrJ5O6vCqsjfw2npQX3nqgDr9WKEtpAwno/s1600/DSC_0132.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0mOeWikt8rlPJ_NVo0TphbX_thuwigsojLq-Lx2zF5YVhnTw2lS66M_ejXAm13n2bVW_I1Q8-Z_1GuuWepnBsmMuVsqAKOxhOMBoVBDuqwrJ5O6vCqsjfw2npQX3nqgDr9WKEtpAwno/s320/DSC_0132.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489759823584571922" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Southern California's chaparral is adapted to fire--or at least to natural cycles of fire. The progression of growth in an ecosystem is called succession. After a fire, with shrubs temporarily knocked back and more sunlight reaching the ground, annual wildflowers proliferate.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Indeed, several species are rare until a fire blows through and cues the seeds to germinate abundantly. I wrote about these fire-following flowers earlier this year for Chance of Rain. I hope you'll <a href="http://chanceofrain.com/2009/10/rambling-la-from-fire-flowers/" target="_blank">read the story</a>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;">I've been itching to see some fire-followers and other wildflowers, and check out how the Angeles Forest is regenerating in the wake of the Station Fire. So a couple weeks ago, I coaxed my 3-year-old into the car for a drive in the Angeles. Here's a slide show of what we saw, just from the road. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><object width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Framblingla%2Fsets%2F72157624392969872%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Framblingla%2Fsets%2F72157624392969872%2F&set_id=72157624392969872&jump_to="> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Framblingla%2Fsets%2F72157624392969872%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Framblingla%2Fsets%2F72157624392969872%2F&set_id=72157624392969872&jump_to=" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;">Thanks to Cliff McLean of the California Native Plant Society, San Gabriel Mountains Chapter for helping me identify the plants. I recommend his CD Field Guide, Common Plants of Eaton Canyon and The San Gabriel Foothills.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;">The flowers were beautiful, but I was troubled by some things I saw. First, despite many signs instructing people not to leave the road, people are hiking into the burn areas. Please know that if you do, you can tramp weed seeds from roadsides into not-yet infested areas. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;">The forest is especially vulnerable to weed colonization after a disturbance such as a fire. Weeds are no small matter; they can increase fire cycles to the point native plants can't recover. (Learn more about how human-caused fires threaten Southland ecosystems in my magazine story </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2008/09/sparking-fires-nature-loving-southern.html" target="_blank">Sparking The Fires</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;">.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">You can see in a couple of the slides above that many weeds grow faster than native shrubs, allowing them to outcompete native plants. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The western stretch of Angeles Crest Highway (the La Canada entrance) is closed. You can access the Angeles through Big Tujunga Canyon, but the forest is closed to use, so stay on the road or face a $5,000 fine.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Click here for a larger version of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingla/sets/72157624392969872/show/" target="_blank">slideshow</a>. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">And check out this fun video about ecological succession:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J1_jy2lxl54&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J1_jy2lxl54&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408328166160721785.post-67672515725297930152010-05-24T01:40:00.000-07:002010-05-24T17:59:09.706-07:00Life Cycles<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y6AhXgQgM-1rCRTEFyq-fumgPIdTlFmCg1oKXlWsZpA4TfcBu0sdo8yCbmAToKY6zOJwkV5sU5RPhkY4j_76VvH-72kSvk1tzAUfLwgtSN5VOTDJyR7uZl_Xe2ZZD-CLiCGtLLMDLq4/s1600/kaijane.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0y6AhXgQgM-1rCRTEFyq-fumgPIdTlFmCg1oKXlWsZpA4TfcBu0sdo8yCbmAToKY6zOJwkV5sU5RPhkY4j_76VvH-72kSvk1tzAUfLwgtSN5VOTDJyR7uZl_Xe2ZZD-CLiCGtLLMDLq4/s320/kaijane.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474903588922314514" /></a>Adults often talk with kids about how they're growing, how they used to be a baby, how they'll one day be a man or woman. My 3-year-old says he doesn't want to be a man, only a boy. No worries, I say, you'll always be a boy. <div><br /></div><div>It's no wonder, though, he's interested in the cycles of life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday, we went with friends to observe the tadpoles at Eaton Canyon. The boys spent nearly 2 hours watching the little commas squiggling in the shallows. They also enjoyed wading in the creek, and examining stones and water bugs.<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQrvwPoVnaf-_aGImDEYhe-rADHcSxBQ5BG0G6Y5ssIK_Qnd1CwzBIY9icWpzc-1DBD_yfJR3ePJI_XDuDE6780KBIi5S6bZytPlBpYt6Q_2cvQVOEs9v-eLk7IrWbRjpZtrtsqgo8_s/s1600/tadpoles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQrvwPoVnaf-_aGImDEYhe-rADHcSxBQ5BG0G6Y5ssIK_Qnd1CwzBIY9icWpzc-1DBD_yfJR3ePJI_XDuDE6780KBIi5S6bZytPlBpYt6Q_2cvQVOEs9v-eLk7IrWbRjpZtrtsqgo8_s/s320/tadpoles.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474903474719321714" /></a>A couple weeks ago, Eaton Canyon docents had set up a table with magnifying viewers and rubber copies of the tadpole-to-frog cycle. My son looked at them and pronounced, "metamorphosis." (The docents said the tadpoles were either Pacific or California tree frogs.)</div><div><br /></div><div>We'd been raising painted lady butterflies at home. They burst from their chrysalises last Friday, and we released them the next day.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrHwMDYaarPuFWiX6dT-h4z4SbnJJIUtrmK_rnZZGwOD0wTKTsjLgvWbyeYDOB97s5ArprZHs8hNYN25C157MAdXW7AQxwGw-PBn9LKVB3LLnt4r80DyxByNK8fNd_wBWiISzrVPyITg/s1600/mateobutterflies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrHwMDYaarPuFWiX6dT-h4z4SbnJJIUtrmK_rnZZGwOD0wTKTsjLgvWbyeYDOB97s5ArprZHs8hNYN25C157MAdXW7AQxwGw-PBn9LKVB3LLnt4r80DyxByNK8fNd_wBWiISzrVPyITg/s320/mateobutterflies.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474903366618498146" /></a>This year several people told us the caterpillars they got from Kidspace did not emerge. But we've had good luck with the ones we mail ordered from <a href="http://www.insectlore.com/" target="_blank">Insect Lore</a>.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcN0q0OU32NpDXv4-4GYMSPx8j9klYwboLfEySlpgqzwWJuEaNZXo9ouUR3umQgEiULUz-sRxsgBMVbzqXeY2antbpqXuyb45LWQ-fXUw1mwKkfAtV-0XbeTwQhFHKswvPn2NK7l56_A/s1600/painted+lady.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcN0q0OU32NpDXv4-4GYMSPx8j9klYwboLfEySlpgqzwWJuEaNZXo9ouUR3umQgEiULUz-sRxsgBMVbzqXeY2antbpqXuyb45LWQ-fXUw1mwKkfAtV-0XbeTwQhFHKswvPn2NK7l56_A/s320/painted+lady.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474903223094881394" /></a>More on <a href="http://ramblingla.blogspot.com/2009/04/butterflies-are-free.html" target="_blank">raising painted ladies</a>. </div></div>Ilsa Setziolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15829268687472763738noreply@blogger.com0