• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Glen Park Association

Up-to-the-minute news from Glen Park

  • Home
  • Glen Park Association
    • About the Glen Park Association
    • Join the GPA
    • GPA Board Contacts
    • GPA Meeting Minutes
    • Bylaws
    • Neighborhood boundaries
  • News Stories
    • Glen Park News
    • Editor’s Picks
  • Greenway
    • About
    • Greenway Plan
  • GPA Grants Program
  • Crime & Safety
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Volunteer Sign Ups
    • Event Submission
    • Author Submissions

A day among the flower: Glen Canyon Wildflower Walk

May 8, 2012 by Elizabeth Weise

California poppies blooming in Glen Canyon – May 3, 2012

Story and photos by Murray Schneider

After spending two hours pulling Italian thistle along a steep Glen Canyon hillside, five Friends of Glen Canyon Park volunteers and one Natural Areas apprentice followed Recreation and Parks manager Randy Zebell on a one-hour tutorial wildflower walk.

Randy Zebell, Natural Areas manager, standing on Glen Canyon hillside, giving Friends of Glen Park Canyon Park a wildflower tour.

“Watch for poison oak,” Zebell said, as he guided the group along a twisting path above Alms Road, which eventually ended only a few yards from the scene of last year’s tragic Berkeley Way fire.

Only minutes before, the volunteers had left behind their mattocks, tarps and yellow pop-up bags. Now collapsed, the pop-up bags listed inside a Rec and Parks truck flat bed loaded with uprooted thistle, which, if left unabated, could lead to a monoculture inimical to the botanical diversity so highly prized by Natural Areas stewards.

“Be careful,” cautioned Zebell, as he directed the volunteers along the precipitous slope. “It’s slippery.”

The volunteers, all retired but not unfamiliar with the serpentining paths, were careful to negotiate a swath, loose with stones. Poison oak bordered both trail edges, its oily green leaves sweating in the morning sun.

The group, two former school teachers, one former postal worker, a former IT and an artist, passed blankets of purple needle grass and June grass.

“Look at all the yarrow,” said Zebell.

They inched upward, gaining purchase on the sliding pebbles. They passed hummocks of pink sticky monkey flower and purple coyote mint. Striding past some coastal oaks, they came into view of blossoming blue dick and some owl’s clover.

One of the volunteers asked why the native was called owl’s clover and was told that the tiny plant boasted owl’s eyes embedded among its leaves.

The group continued to climb, gathering its second wind as Crags Court came into sight.

California poppies canvassed the cliff and craggy chert formations erupted from the slope, serrated and a bit ominous.

Zebell went off trail. The group followed. He pointed above him.

“Up here,” he said, “I think we can find some brownie thistle.”

Zebell led the volunteers through native grasses, many he had personally reseeded in his effort to fight invasive radish and mustard that threaten native shrubbery and grassland.

“There,” he said. He pointed to a clump of cup-like white plants hugging the ground. Each had the appearance of sea-going anemone. They lay nestled among breeze-blown grass, spiny but benign, not at all like the Italian thistle with which the volunteers had earlier engaged in combat.

Kay Westerberg, a volunteer who lives on Chenery Street, pointed a camera and snapped a photograph while a chorus of robins sang near by. Bumblebees hovered above a stand of bee plant and a circling red-tailed hawk swooped, scouting for a meal of mice or gopher.

“Brownie thistle is uncommon in the City,” lectured Zebell, who has served the City for 12 years and holds a BA in biology and a MA in conservation biology.

Steven Uchida removing a single stalk of Italian thistle during wildflower walk – May 2, 2012.
California poppies blooming in Glen Canyon – May 3, 2012

Steven Uchida, a volunteer who lives on Monterey Boulevard, tugged a mattock from his belt, eyeballing a solitary stalk of Italian thistle. Kneeling, he swung the tool and it perforated the earth with a muted thump. Uchida pulled its root, unearthing it, tucking it away so he could dispose of it later.

The group soldiered past more yarrow and morning glory and a pocket of yellow sun cups.

Getting close to their weekly quitting time, they bunched together preparatory to their descent down the final incline. The trail was steep, and Indian file they gingerly navigated their way, leaving in their wake a forest of Italian thistle that cluttered the ravine.

Rarely seen California native Brownie thistle, high on the slopes of Glen Canyon – May 3, 2012

Zebell gestured to a horizon of healthy grass where a year before he’d used a string trimmer to reduce mustard that threatened the slope’s biodiversity.

“This was a challenging place to work,” he said.

Now the mustard was all but erased. In its place, coyote mint and checkerbloom flourished.

Jean Conner, Mary Huizinga and Kay Westerberg on a wildflower walk – May 2, 2012.

The group reached the canyon floor, looking forward to its weekly ration of cookies and water, provided by its mangers, the cash-strapped Natural Areas Program, whose mission is to restore and enhance 32 City natural areas while developing and supporting community-based stewardship of these sites.

Veteran volunteer steward Kay Westerberg looked back over her shoulder where the California natives now comingled in harmony.

“That’s a success story,” she said. “It means it can be done.”

Anyone interested in volunteering for weekly Recreation and Park Natural Area Program Glen Canyon Park work parties can contact Jean Conner at 584-8576 or Joe Grey, volunteer coordinator at Joe.Grey@sfgov.org.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

Upper Noe Neighbors Community Meeting Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Upper Noe Recreation Center auditorium
295 Day Street
Agenda


San Francisco Department of Public Works logoDPW Love Our City
District 8 Cleanup Day
Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m. to afternoon
Learn more and sign up here


 

Logo Center for Creative Exploration

The Center for Creative Exploration
Explore all the Colors of the Rainbow
one-day workshop
Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
300 Chenery Street
Learn more and link to registration here


Weeding Party
June 21, 10 a.m. to noon
100 block of Arlington at Charles
Join neighbors on the North end of the Cut to keep down the weeds and beautify top to bottom. Tools, lunch and good company provided.



Stop the bleed logoStop the Bleed Workshop
Thursday, June 26, 6-9 p.m.
St. Aidan’s Church
To learn more, click here


Monthly cleanup on the Greenway
First Saturday of the Month (usually)
Click here to learn more


Friends of Glen Canyon’s
Glen Canyon Habitat Restoration
Every third Saturday 9:30 a.m to noon
Sign up here

Subscribe to this Newsletter

Sign Up for Glen Park Association News Updates:

* indicates required

Check It Out at the Glen Park Library

Click the above button or here to see all upcoming Glen Park Branch Library events. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get events highlights in your inbox.

Glen Park Rec Center

Glen Canyon Park sign
Click here for latest
Glen Park Rec Center
class schedule


Saturdays 3-4:45 p.m.
Questions? Call 415-239-4007


GP Movie Night Schedule

Renew Your Glen Park Association Membership for 2025

Join the Glen Park Association and help promote our community’s interests. Together, we can secure improvement funds, publicize neighborhood concerns and strive to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.

Membership in the Glen Park Association is only $10 annually and can be purchased online.

Glen Park Association Advertising Sponsors

JE_Digital Small Space Ad
Diamond Heights Digital Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
moroco
Center for Creative Exploration - adult
JE_Digital Small Space Ad
Diamond Heights Digital Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
moroco
Center for Creative Exploration - adult
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Current Weather & Air Quality

Glen Park featured on…

FacebookSF ChronInstagramTwitter

Join the Glen Park Association on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Glen Park Association is in Glen Park.
5 hours ago
Glen Park Association

Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog:
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
... See MoreSee Less

Tuesday was a star-studded day at Glen Park BART when Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde spent much of the afternoon filming a new romantic comedy titled “The Invite” in the station.

For more on this story..Check out the article by Elizabeth Weise on the Glen Park News Blog: 
“Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde filming at Glen Park BART”

Visit Link in Bio or our website: www.glenparkassociation.org
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Glen Park Association is at San Francisco Public Library Glen Park Branch.
4 days ago
Glen Park Association

Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library!
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

San Francisco Public Library Arion Press | Artist Books Museum of Craft and Design Rafael Mandelman 🏳️‍🌈 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #InCommunity
... See MoreSee Less

Photos and Fun courtesy of the Glen Park Library! 
It was a great turnout at the Glen Park Library Open House on Saturday May 17th!

Thank you to all who attended and a big thank you to Glen Park Branch Library Manager Darren Heiber and his staff for a fantastic day!! 🙌🏽

@sfpubliclibrary @arionpress @museumofcraftanddesign @rafaelmandelmand8 #glenparklibrary #arionpress #museumofcraftanddesign #glenparksf #sanfrancisco #incommunity
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • likes 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Blog Roll

Coyote Yipps
Friends of Upper Noe Recreation Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in