Page 6 April 1, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Plant Enthusiasts from front page
lawns with “low tolerant plants.” The county
was offering “about two-dollars a square foot,
if I recall,” Koike said. He banked about
$4,000 bucks for changing-out his sod for
environmentally friendly plants.
Soon, Koike, prompted by his sister, an
environmentalist and landscape architect,
enrolled in an introductory Theodore Payne
Native Plant class. After attending a few
classes, Koike realized that “I was totally
hooked.” He worked with a local landscaper
who helped him select both native and nonnative
plants for his yard, but said Koike, “I
was pulling out all the non-native plants and
replacing them with native plants.”
The ESNPS primarily disseminates information
through their Facebook group, which
has more than 35 members. Koike said that
when the group started picking-up followers,
there was not a plethora of information
available about native plants, but with the
advancements in social media, especially
in the COVID era, more information has
become available, with native plant videos
dotting YouTube.
So how do you find out which plants are
native to El Segundo? Well, I accessed the
calscape.org website, typed in my address,
and- boo -a list, with photos, of more than
300 native plants popped-up. They included
California Buckwheat, Freemont Cottonwood,
and Blue-Eyed Grass.
Koike met fellow native plant proponent
Nadine Currimjee-Quane through a social
media post when she rallied native plant
enthusiasts to meet at her house, view her
native plant offerings, and discuss their
shared passion.
Currimjee-Quane is currently quarantining
outside of the United States but keeps
close tabs on her El Segundo native plants’
progress surrounding her domicile. She
lamented the fact that normally, at this
time of the year, with the advent of Spring,
“we would be seeing some quite beautiful
blooms,” but that the parched rain conditions
in Southern California have delayed
the blossoming.
Currimjee-Quane has been an El Segundo
resident for more than a decade. Once she
moved to El Segundo, she said she noticed
that her property had been adversely affected
by the continuing drought, including
a precipitous amount of soil erosion that
was impacting her property, as well as her
neighbor’s acreage. She said she tried to
figure out what to do, landscaping-wise, and
joined the California Native Plant Society to
research differing alternatives to landscaping
her property.
She finally prevailed upon “a friend of a
friend” to help her build back the foliage
of her property. She was adamant about
incorporating native plants into her new
landscaping design. Not an easy task, because
the availability of El Segundo native
plants is problematic, as are the vagaries of
the neighbors watering systems, moisture
in the air, and soil salt content. She said it
was “a really interesting journey. Slowly but
surely, (plants) died, plants lived.” All the
while, she continued her studious research
of native plants.
She then crossed paths with Koike. She
took a UCLA course on plant sustainability
and soon learned of the iconic El Segundo
blue butterfly and how the butterfly was
death spiraling towards a possible path to
extinction. She researched and deigned that
a specific strain of native buckwheat was key
to propagating and sustaining the nourishment
needed to keep the blue butterfly majestically
floating in the air.
Currimjee-Quane said that when researching
what type of plants to place surrounding
her home, drought-tolerant plants were emphasized,
which helps with the water usage,
but not necessarily native plants. Continued
research evoked the info that the smaller the
plant, the better: she also mentioned that
some very well-intentioned resident gardeners
have killed-off native plants by over-watering
them. “Something that doesn’t look ‘too
good,’ does not (necessarily) need water,” she
said. Who knew? She also volunteered that
the death knell to many budding plants can
occur when they get “peed on” by dogs or
that birds, caterpillars, pesky bugs, and other
forms of long-existent nature can attack plant
life. While also noting the inordinate number
of crows in the environs of El Segundo, who
swoop down from their perches and “hunt
the eggs of birdies who lay eggs in out our
garden,” breaking the eco-systems long-term
sustainability nourishment chain.
Back to Koike. One of the reasons he has
developed a passion for native plants is that
“it benefits wildlife.” Koike said that because
of the specific plants that he has planted, his
yards attract a plethora of diverse wildlife,
including lizards, frogs, and “a ton of different
birds. That is what I like about it,” he said.
“I feel that I am helping sustain the wildlife
(eco-system) and helping sustain the wildlife
of some of these endangered animals.”
Koike is touted as having a “gorgeous garden.”
He was generous enough, along with his
wife, to allow a writer to meander through his
front and back yards on a recent sun-splashed
Saturday morning to get a rudimentary education
on El Segundo native plants. Koike
pointed-out the native plant-life and wildlife
surrounding his home, including California
sagebrush, which supports the feasting of
local insects, with bees a-buzzing. He also
noted the plant that sustains the eco-system
that supports the El Segundo blue butterfly,
which is a strain of buckwheat.
Said Koike: “If that plant didn’t exist, then
the beloved blue butterfly wouldn’t exist,”
because the caterpillar that eventually morphs
into the blue butterfly “can’t eat anything
else.” Hummingbirds were flitting in-and-out
of his yards, searching for pliant insects who
would provide them with the nectar that they
need for their sustenance and to keep them
able to beat their wings more than 50 times
a second amazingly.
“This is our garden; we love to spend a
lot of time out here,” Koike said. He related
that he enjoys relaxing on his backyard deck
with a camera and snapping pictures of the
exotic birds that frequent his domain, and
post the photos on social media.
Next, we wandered down the street and
around the corner and dropped-in on Sueanne
Shimon as she was tending to her budding
native plant front garden.
Shimon’s front yard is evolving, with her
efforts in year one still focusing on irrigation
and fighting the ever-present battle of
conquering weeds.
Shimon, a six-year resident of El Segundo,
said that Koike heavily influenced her to
pursue the native plant landscaping route.
“It was good timing,” she said, noting that
when she had moved to her current residence
a few years ago, a complete remodel was
in order, which necessitated the removal of
all of the at-the-time landscaping, which
left her and her husband “a blank slate” to
look at alternatives from re-sodding with
the typical grass. Koike and Shimon were
work officemates and, and he touted the
wonder of native plants to her. Shimon said
she was intrigued by native plants, because
they naturally flourished in local environs
and tended to thrive without an overabundance
of fertilization, chemicals, or watering,
which limits genetic modification. Because
Shimon lives in what she terms “a visible
location” in El Segundo, she did not
want her newly remodeled digs to be fronted
by an “eyesore,” initially featuring “bare
dirt,” so she eagerly embraced the planting
of natives.
“It doesn’t take much to get started,”
Shimon said. “The beauty of native plants
is that they will naturally thrive, with very
little prompting, because they are truly native
to the conditions,” and have, over the years,
adapted to their environment. “When you meet
the minimum conditions” to cultivate native
plants, she said, “you are setting yourself up
for success. And that is the fun part. You have
minimal pests, minimal watering, and a lot
of the plants are drought tolerant.”
Barbara Boland is another local resident
who touts the benefits of native planting.
“As’ native plant’ gardeners, we strive to
bring our local natural world back into our
gardens, a supply chain for our native insects
and birds,” Boland emailed.
“When we moved into our house almost
three years ago, there were only stones for
a front yard,” Boland said. “Now there is
a verdant garden. I have planted mostly
native plants which attract birds, hummers,
butterflies and bees. Our local garden center,
International Garden Center, is a good place
for a start. There are sections for native
plants, particularly perennial salvias, and
sages, which hummingbirds and others love!
“During the covid shut down of schools,”
Boland continued, “local day teachers have
brought their individual students to my garden
to educate, observe our seasonal changes,
slugs, insects and more.”
Currimjee-Quane aspires to have locals
“plant something that will create a corridor
for native birds and bugs to survive in and
attract butterflies. Dedicate an area of your
garden to native plants. (That) makes you
aware of pollution, rainfall, drought conditions.
It makes you more in-tune with what
is going on with nature, our environment.
“Being in the garden and sticking your hand
in the soil,” she said, “is excellent for mental
health, especially in the time of COVID.
We can build these green corridors for the
survival of bugs, and birds, caterpillars, and
butterflies. I think that is what people love.”
A noble aspiration, indeed, in these unsettling
times. •
A Monarch Caterpillar. Photos Courtesy of Leonard Koike
Selection of El Segundo Native Plants.
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NOTICE OF PETITION TO
ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
JOHN EDWARD METCALFE
CASE NO. 21STPB02555
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors,
contingent creditors, and persons who
may otherwise be interested in the WILL
or estate, or both of JOHN EDWARD
METCALFE.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been
filed by SHAWNA METCALFE GIBSON
in the Superior Court of California,
County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE
requests that SHAWNA METCALFE
GIBSON be appointed as personal
representative to administer the estate of
the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedent's
WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to
probate. The WILL and any codicils are
available for examination in the file kept
by the court.
THE PETITION requests authority
to administer the estate under the
Independent Administration of Estates
Act. (This authority will allow the personal
representative to take many actions
without obtaining court approval. Before
taking certain very important actions,
however, the personal representative will
be required to give notice to interested
persons unless they have waived notice
or consented to the proposed action.)
The independent administration authority
will be granted unless an interested
person files an objection to the petition
and shows good cause why the court
should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held in
this court as follows: 04/30/21 at 8:30AM
in Dept. 79 located at 111 N. HILL ST.,
LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of
the petition, you should appear at the
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person or by your attorney.
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contingent creditor of the decedent,
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representative appointed by the court
within the later of either (1) four months
from the date of first issuance of letters
to a general personal representative, as
defined in section 58(b) of the California
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date of mailing or personal delivery to
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Attorney for Petitioner
JOSEPH C. GIRARD - SBN 50597, LAW
OFFICE OF JOSEPH C. GIRARD
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SUITE 254
LOS ANGELES CA 90292
3/25, 4/1, 4/8/21
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EL SEGUNDO HERALD
El Segundo Herald Pub. 3/25, 4/1,
4/8/21
H-27069
NOTICE OF ORDINANCE
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO
ORDINANCE 1622
AN ORDINANCE SETTING THE
AMOUNT OF WATER AND SEWER
RATES AND CHARGES PURSUANT
TO HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
§5471 AND EL SEGUNDO MUNICIPAL
CODE § 11-1-5.
SUMMARY OF ADOPTED ORDINANCE
Adopted City Water and Wastewater
(Sewer) Rate Adjustments for Fiscal Year
2020-2021 through Fiscal Year 2024-
2025.
The whole number of the City Council of
said City is five. The foregoing Ordinance
No. 1622 was duly introduced by said
City Council at a regular meeting held
on the 16th day of February, 2020, and
was duly passed and adopted by said
City Council, approved and signed by the
Mayor, and attested to by the City Clerk,
all at a regular meeting of said Council
held on the 2nd day of March, 2021, and
the same was so passed and adopted by
the following vote:
Ayes: Mayor Boyles, Mayor Pro
Tem Pimentel, Council Member Pirsztuk,
Council Member Nicol, and Council
Member Giroux
Noes: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
A copy of the ordinance is available for
viewing in the City Clerk’s office, 350
Main St. El Segundo, CA or the City’s
website at http://www.elsegundo.org
then go to Government, View, and then
Municipal Code.
El Segundo Herald Pub. 4/1/21
H-27083