A compact four-acre desert garden nurturing over 3,000 plant varieties from desert environments worldwide, founded in 1938 by Chester "Cactus Slim" Moorten and his wife Patricia. The plantings are arranged to simulate their original geographic settings — Sonoran, Mojave, Baja, and South American deserts each have their own zone. Native American artifacts, rocks, and crystals are displayed among the specimens.
The Moorten Garden has a genuinely eccentric, personal quality that larger botanical institutions lack. It is family-run and still intimate. The agave and boojum tree specimens are particularly striking.