Conlan Garden Tour

Our private tour of Don and Marilyn Conlan's garden on March 25th was stellar. The spring day was crisp and sunny and the garden looked beautiful. Guests enjoyed the gentle guitar sounds of Drew Gale playing in the garden and at 2:00 Debby Figoni gave an entertaining garden talk and answered many questions. We all enjoyed wonderful weather and company and are grateful to Don and Marilyn for sharing their exquisite garden with us.

2017 Arbor Day Proclamation

South Pasadena Beautiful proudly received the 2017 Arbor Day Proclamation by the South Pasadena City Council on March 1st. Thanks to our caring and generous tree donors 63 new trees were planted during our tree drive. The tree drive is now closed until next fall when conditions for planting trees are ideal. Although we are thankful for our rainy winter, we encourage all residents to help care for trees near their homes or businesses by watering them in times of heat and no rain. 

Overpass Wall Clean Up - Part 2

Before

After

On November 13, 2016 the South Pasadena Beautiful clean up crew were at it again, this time cleaning up the overpass walls on Prospect Avenue. After scraping, sweeping, and priming, two coats of paint were applied to the walls transforming them from neglected, ugly walls to classy walls that neighbors can be proud of. We believe these small steps are important in keeping our pride of place up. These walls are technically under the jurisdiction of Cal Trans which means they would never be taken care of if left up to them.  Your donations help fund these projects. All work is done by unpaid volunteers. Every dollar helps. Thanks for your support!

Picking Up Trash and Enjoying the Morning

Thank you to our volunteers who went out on Saturday morning and picked up trash for an hour. Two garbage bags were filled walking along Arroyo Drive and down the trail into the park near the 110 pedestrian tunnel. Email us at southpasadenabeautiful@gmail for information about our next trash pick up walk.

Grand Avenue Beautification Update

On September 18th, SPB volunteers scraped, primed and repainted four unsightly Caltrans walls on Grand Avenue at the 110 Freeway overpass.   SPB will be beautifying similar walls on Prospect Avenue in the coming months.  

Caltrans wall AFTER

South Pasadena Becomes the Nation's First Green Zone City

Congratulations to the City of South Pasadena for leading the fight for clean air. We are the first city in the nation to maintain our parks and medians 100% gas and emissions free. The City was recognized by various state and congressional representatives on September 9th as well as numerous other groups advocating for clean air The pollution in LA County is the worst in the whole country and we thank our City, City Council and especially Councilman Cacciotti for making clean air a priority for us. Thank You!

For more information read the KPCC article:  http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/09/09/64530/south-pasadena-becomes-a-green-zone-city/?slide=3

SPB Fall Gardening Workshop

Join us for a free workshop to learn about tree care, parkway landscaping and a Q & A session with a panel of gardening and tree experts. The workshop will be broken into three :45 minute sessions.

Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016
Eddie Park, 2017 Edgewood Dr., South Pasadena
11a.m. - 2 p.m.

Session 1- 11am - Learn more about tree maintenance for new and mature trees, especially in this time of drought. 

Session 2 - 12:00 - Learn all about how to re-landscape your parkway including city ordinances, planting ideas and best practices.

Session 3 - 1:00 - This Q & A session is a great opportunity to ask any questions you have regarding your own trees and landscape. Bring photos.

In Memorium - Remembering a pillar of our organization

South Pasadena Beautiful greatly mourns the recent loss of our long time board member and community advocate, Scott Van Sant. Scott was a dedicated member who worked on countless projects for 25 years including running a smooth plant swap during the garden tour. 

He led by example and taught us younger members the values of kindness, civic responsibility, dedication and personal responsibility, honesty and integrity. We will miss him dearly and will continue to follow the path he and his wife Janet set out for South Pasadena Beautiful and the work to make our community a better place. We love you Scott.

Orange Grove Park Mural

Last fall we set our sights on a blighted wall at the tennis courts of Orange Grove Park. SPB teamed up with the City Public Works department and the South Pasadena Arts Council to transform the spot into something visually cheerful and charming.

Public Works replaced the old wall and SPARC member and local artist, Kelly Conte, led a group of SPHS student artists to create and paint the mural.  The mural depicts three swimmers at the  "Plunge", the old South Pasadena swimming pool which was located at the site of the tennis courts many years ago.

Once the painting is completed the surface will be covered in an anti-graffiti protective sealant.

Many thanks to all to helped make this project successful. Here are some before-during-and after photos.

Orange Grove Medians Upgrade

We are happy to announce our median re-landscape project is complete. SPB board member Anita Williams, a professional landscape architect, designed the 6000 square foot space to be water-wise, beautiful and withstand the constant sun and traffic. 

Arroyo Seco Clean Up

On February 20th and 21st SPB members worked cleaning up the trail along the Arroyo Seco and the "City of South Pasadena" hillside rock sign adjacent to the 110 freeway. Volunteers cleared out dead brush, weeds and of course lots of trash. After weeding the hillside, California poppy seeds were scattered and hopefully we will be rewarded with a hillside of orange blooms after the coming rains.

The trail is used by runners, horseback riders, and dog walkers. The clean up makes the area look safer and friendlier for more people to use.  More work will be tackled in the coming months. Contact us via our contact page on this site to find sign up for our next clean up.

Cool California

The City of South Pasadena is participating in the Cool California Challenge which is a competition between California cities to motivate and reward residents for reducing their carbon footprints and build more sustainable communities. Help our City win the challenge by signing up online at CAChallenge.org South Pasadena Beautiful has a team which anyone can join.

It's easy and a great way to do your part to help fight global warming. CAChallenge.org!!

Trash Pick Up

Saturday, January 9th Board members Diane and John worked with SPB volunteers to pick up 10 bags of trash along the trail at Arroyo Park near the 110 underpass tunnel. Great work guys!

SPB Wins Image Award

On December 29th, 2015 South Pasadena Beautiful was honored with the Image award by Mayor Diana Mahmud. The Image award is given to individuals and organizations that enhance the image of South Pasadena beyond its borders. Sixteen year board member Lela Bissner accepted the award with veteran SPB member Marty Wetzel.