An overdue visit to Madrona Marsh (part 1)

When I want a closer brush with nature than my own garden provides, I usually go to the local botanic garden but, as my January visit showed me, it's not particularly tranquil at present.  Then it dawned on me that I haven't visited Madrona Marsh Preserve since January 2019.  It's a natural wetland area that provides a sanctuary for birds in the middle of the nearby city of Torrance.  A canceled appointment on Tuesday morning opened up an unexpected opportunity to pay a visit.

This post focuses on the native plant garden surrounding the Preserve's Nature Center, directly across the street from the marsh itself.  I'll cover my visit to the marsh in a separate post on Friday.

The Nature Center's building wasn't open to visitors on Tuesday morning but the garden was of greater interest anyway

These bush sunflowers, Encelia californica, were the most prominent floral features in both the native plant garden and the marsh itself.  Their sheer numbers and bright color made them hard to miss.

The first thing I noticed once inside the garden was the sound of the birds chirping and the bees buzzing.  As the marsh and the Nature Center are surrounded by a mix of busy roads, condominiums and businesses on all sides, it was surprising how well the sounds of nature masked them.

This was the garden's only water feature but the birds were all over it

The ever-popular bug house was prominently featured

The plants were roughly organized by local ecosystems (coastal scrub, chaparral, desert, etc.) but I've loaded my photos in alphabetical order rather than the order in which I encountered them.  Although some plants were individually identified by signs, most were not and I spent a considerable amount of time working on plant names following my visit.  My cell phone's plant identification feature helped (it's getting better!), as did clues provided by signs scattered around the garden.

Many of the plant signs were almost buried within the foliage and at least one provided photos without plant names.  All relied exclusively on common names and many plants weren't identified at all.

I was very impressed by this bushy Arctostaphylos.  I'd love to have one like this in my own garden.

I do have Artemisia californica in my garden.  Pruned hard 2+ months ago, it's growth has exploded since our rainy January.

The flowers of this Astragulus trichopodus (rattlepod) were less interesting than its seedpods

I think this is Berberis nevinii (syn. Mahonia nevinii)

The red fairy duster (Calliandra californica) was found in the garden's desert plant area

No California native garden is complete without Ceanothus.  I can't name the variety.

This Cercocarpusbetuloides, commonly known as mountain mahogany, was new to me.  It's a large shrub with masses of small yellow flowers.

There were a lot of Dudleyas scattered about

I think this one is Eriodictyon califonicum, also known as Yerba santa, but I could be wrong.  The plant is used in traditional medicine to treat asthma and upper respiratory ailemts.  It's also the primary nectar source for checkerspot butterflies.

My brain identified this as a trailing Lantana at the time of my visit but I questioned that identification when I looked at this photo.  It might be Mirabilis laevis, also known as desert wishbone bush.

This isn't the lupine I see growing alongside local roads but it might be Lupinus chamissonis, aka dune bush lupine

Rhus integrifolia (lemonade berry) grows all over my own area but they don't bloom nearly as heavily as those I found at the Nature Center

This appears to be Rosa minutifolia, aka Baja rose

This hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) had a head start on the Cleveland sages , which were just getting started

I think this is Verbena lilacina 'De la Mina'.  I have a few in my garden, although they're not looking nearly this good.

I'll share my walk through the marsh on Friday.

All material © 2012-2023by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party