This tiny, quirky garden is an endearing remnant of old Palm Springs

Enter Moorten Botanical Garden in the Mesa neighborhood of south Palm Springs and you’re on a different clock, in a different time. Clark Moorten framed by rare exotic cactuses in Moorten Botanical Garden’s “cactarium” — a word coined by his mother, Patricia. Slim didn’t like the idea but he did it, Clark said, and then Patricia made up a name for the humble enclosure: the “cactarium.” Dasylirion wheeleri ‘Desert Spoon’ at Moorten Botanical Garden. “The other kids aren’t interested, which is understandable, but Rick will keep this garden going because the family legacy is really important to him,” Clark said. “When I’m having a really bad day, I just think to myself, ‘This is going to be history tomorrow, so if I can get through this today, life will be great again,’” Clark said.