In the middle of our Modernism Day, we paused for a nature break at The Desert Garden for All Seasons- Moorten Botanical Garden.
Chester Moorten, affectionately known as Cactus Slim, stands out as one of Palm Springs’ most unique characters. A talented horticulturalist and desert landscaper, he came to California from Western Washington, where he worked on the railroad like his father before him. As a young man, he was a lumberjack before heading south to mine gold in Kern County and in the Little San Bernardino Mountains on the south end of what has become Joshua Tree National Monument.
While living and working between the two desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, he became fascinated with the beauty of indigenous desert plants, especially those of the spiny variety. One day, he loaded up his car with cacti and headed for Los Angeles. He sold the cactus and also found work as an actor. He was in dozens of films including movies with W.C. Fields and Buster Keaton.
One hot summer day in 1933, he arrived in Palm Springs and knew that he found the perfect place to sell his cactus. In 1938, he opened his first cactus museum. The next year he met Patricia Haliday, the woman who would soon become his wife. A horticulture and botany student at USC, she had come to the desert to do her work study with desert botanical plants. Patricia Haliday fell in love with the city of Palm Springs as well as with Chester Moorten.
Together the couple expanded Chester’s business to include landscape design and were soon hired by such luminaries as Walt Disney, Red Skelton, Jimmy Van Heusen, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby to create backyards at their desert homes. Walt even tapped the duo to curate the foliage for Frontierland at his soon-to-be-built Disneyland. In Palm Springs, it seems, there is often a Disney tie-in! I love that.
For over 80 years, Desertland has been a showcase for thousands of specimens, sourced from all over the world. The one-acre garden retains a homey intimacy, and it is the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the 'big city'.
The species are categorized geographically, and it is so interesting to explore over a dozen arid biomes, such as the Baja California Peninsula, the South African-Succulent Karoo, the Mojave Desert and Mexico-Gran Desierto de Altar. Not limited to cacti, the gardens also display agave, bombax, and South African aloe plants. An interesting collection of rocks, crystals, fossils and gold-mining relics break up the flora and enhance the desert themes.
By the way, I inherited Steve's old smartphone and I'm trying to learn how to do selfies and not photograph my fingers. I'm a slow learner. Be patient with me!
A must is a meander through the World's First Cactarium*, an exhibition of rare plants. How very, very cool. (*cactus + terrarium, coined by the Moortens)
For the very reasonable price of $5, I highly recommend a visit here. This as a fabulous example of Palm Springs' yesteryear. I know I'll be back!
And of course, Huell Howser visited Moorten Botanical Garden often. If you can't get to Palm Springs to see it for yourself, you can always watch Huell's visit here. What a blast!
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