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Echo Park’s lotuses

Randy McDonald demonstrates how he used a hacksaw blade to cut the lotus.

Randy McDonald demonstrates how he used a hacksaw blade to cut the lotus.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Eight years ago, Randy McDonald stealthily took a small piece of Echo Park Lake’s sacred lotus. He took the piece back to his nursery in Reseda and grew tons more of it. By 2008, the park’s lotuses had all died off -- stunning the neighborhood and putting an obvious damper on the annual Lotus Festival. Eventually word spread that McDonald had stolen a piece years ago and people working on the Echo Park Lake revitalization project reached out to him.
Read more: The salvation of Echo Park’s lotus bed is rooted in a bit of thievery

Randy McDonald's Reseda nursery

Frank Zepeda tends to lotuses in Randy McDonald’s Reseda greenhouse.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Randy McDonald's Reseda nursery

A Hardy Water Lily is shown.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Randy McDonald's Reseda nursery

Giant Hairgrass grows at Randy McDonald’s nursery.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Randy McDonald's Reseda nursery

Thanks to Randy McDonald, Echo Park will have 376 lotuses, offshoots of the one he stole.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Randy McDonald's Reseda nursery

Randy McDonald poses with Asian Sacred Lotuses at his nursery. His act of stealthy disobedience helped save an Echo Park symbol.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Echo Park Lake

With the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles as a backdrop, the misty fountains of Echo Park Lake shoot high into the sky.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Echo Park Lake

A bee hovers over a water lily at Echo Park Lake after a two-year, $45-million makeover. Before it was refilled and restocked with plants, the neighborhood landmark was completely drained and cleaned.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Echo Park Lake

Visitors take a look at the restored lake. “Echo Park Lake had become toxic,” said L.A. City Engineer Gary Moore. “It was not a place that you wanted to be.”   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Echo Park Lake

Echo Park Lake’s famous lotus plants have been restored and protected by plastic netting. During the cleanup, said L.A.’s city engineer, workers found two guns, one toilet, 20 Frisbees and a pay telephone.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Echo Park Lake

“Echo Park Lake is a beautiful mosaic, it’s a rich tapestry of the different ethnicities that live and work in Echo Park.” said state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). “From Latino working families and children to young hipsters ... to Armenians and Filipinos.”  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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