City Gardener

This adobe wall and gate are part of the original hotel in Palm Springs, California. In 1938 the old adobe hotel was purchased by Chester Moorten, who had previously been a stunt man in early Hollywood working on films including the Keystone Cops movies. He and his botanist wife Patricia, lived and operated a desert garden center out of the old hotel. Locally he was known as "Cactus Slim" for his ability to maintain desert plants. Chester's son, Clark, carried on the business and became a noted expert in desert plants. Clark Moorten still owns and operates the Moorten Botanical Garden which is open to the public (except on Wednesdays, which I discovered the hard way). Original adobe wall of the old hotel, now Moorten family home Layout of the botanical garden Compared to other botanical gardens, this one is limited to one acre. However, what it lacks in size it compensates with variety and quality. There are specimens in this garden that would be difficult to find in the ...

It is springtime for plants in the greenhouse, including aquatic plants which are adapted to having their roots always damp or entirely submerged in water. Before plants get too far into the new spring season, now is a good time to address the overgrown roots from last season. One option for an overgrown plant is to divided it into two parts; or, the root ball can be cut down to a smaller size; or, more simply, a plant might be moved into a larger pot. Today, I was directed to use all three techniques for some of the aquatic plants. Umbrella sedge Cyperus alternifolius   A clean tank and water, with repotted plants at the far end With the plants removed from the tank for repotting, it was an opportunity to replace the murky water in the open tank. But, it is not only the tank water needing to be replaced. The majority of the dirty water sits in a large reservoir below the tank. A pump in the reservoir pushes water up into the tank to find its way back down through drain holes. Over...