Meet Marie Massa | Horticulturist focusing on California native plants

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marie Massa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marie, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
I was inspired with the idea of creating a California Native Plant Corridor when my son started school on Ave. 20 in Lincoln Heights. My family is also a member of the Lincoln Heights Trash Club and one day we were picking up trash on Ave. 20 and I saw the planter boxes in the parkway. A resident came out and talked to us and asked what we were doing. He then told us that his daughter had put in these planter boxes as part of a Girl Scout project in 2016 and planted them with Bush Sunflower and California Buckwheat. This gave me the idea to continue this beautification project and expand it to plant the area from the sidewalk to the freeway on-ramp wall with California natives.

In November 2022 I wrote a letter that I mailed to the residents of Ave. 20 who live directly across from this area to explain the idea of the California Native Plant Corridor. Over a year later I have managed to sheet mulch the entire parkway with the help of community volunteers, the LA Conservation Corps, and the non-profit: Plant Community LA. I also created a landscape design for the area, which is roughly 365 feet long by 8 feet wide so approximately 2,920 sq. ft. The design includes 31 species of mostly local native plants and 438 plants in all. I was able to get almost all the plants donated from several plant nurseries, including: Growing Works, Plant Material, SAMO Fund, Descanso Gardens, Audubon Center at Debs Park, Hardy Californians, and TreePeople. Using grant money from the LA/Santa Monica Mtns. chapter of California Native Plant Society, I purchased the last remaining plants from the Theodore Payne Foundation.

Thus far I have planted over 335 plants but have come up on a couple of road blocks. As November – February is the best time to plant natives, many volunteers are helping out with other projects so I have found myself doing most of the work either on my own or with my family or one other volunteer. There has also been a homeless encampment at the end of the area, closer to the Albion St. intersection, which the City and Council District 1 is aware of but have been unable to clear or relocate the unhoused individuals into temporary housing. The third issue is a crack in the wall supporting the freeway on-ramp, which CalTrans has been made aware of and have assigned an outside contractor to repair. The lack of consistent help, the homeless encampment and the crack in the wall are all barriers to complete the planting for this Native Plant Corridor.

When I am out there planting though people who pass by always thank me for what I am doing and since I have all of the plants I will continue with the project. Supporting the creation of a California Native Plant Corridor in a highly urbanized area of Los Angeles, will hopefully help educate the community about native plants, connect them to this important flora and their ability to create habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Native plants also help conserve water, clean air, and help mitigate heat from the concrete freeway.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Currently I am a stay-at-home mom which has allowed me the time to devote to this project. Before becoming a mother, I was a gardener at the LA Natural History Museum and I also did a couple landscape design projects in LA. My passion has always been plants and when I first moved to LA I started volunteering at the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden and the Theodore Payne Foundation. Over the years I have volunteered at a number of native plant nurseries and I have found that learning about the beauty, diversity and importance of California native plants has been truly inspiring. It made me want to share this knowledge and beauty with others.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take my friend to visit Descanso Gardens and the California Botanic Garden in Claremont. Then we would go for a fun hike at Point Mugu. We would go to the Sage Vegan Bistro in Echo Park to have a bite to eat and relax at the brewery.

If we had time we would also go to Manhattan Beach and enjoy some more time in the sun.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Council District 1 has been very supportive of the project by helping me get assistance from the LA Conservation Corps as well as a donation of mulch from LA Sanitation.

Plant Community LA was instrumental in making the sheet mulching happen and get completed in a timely fashion.

Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School made it possible for this project to happen in the first place by allowing me access to water and a staging area for the plants for this project.

All of the nurseries that donated plants: Growing Works, Plant Material, Descanso Gardens, Audubon Center at Debs Park, TreePeople, Hardy Californians, and SAMO Fund.

CNPS: LA/SMM Chapter for giving me funds to purchase the last few plants needed for the project.

All of the volunteers who have come out over the many months to help out and of course my family for supporting me and this idea.

Email: nativeplantsinlincolnheights@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ave20nativeplants

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-massa-4b6539114/