Echo Park’s lotuses

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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’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 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)