travel: moorten botanical garden in palm springs
I'm obsessed with cactus. Blame it on my childhood and the time I spent running around the desert looking for quartz, forts and other desert treasures while growing up in Tucson, Arizona. My hometown provided lots of field trips to Saguaro National Park to learn about the magic of the desert but also how to survive in heat. When I first moved to Los Angeles over 14 years ago, I felt out of place and missed home terribly. At first, I thought it was being new to L.A. but the reality was, I missed the desert—saguaros, ocotillos and even the notorious jumping cactus. While the summer brought insane temperatures, it was spring that stole the show with its insanely majestic blooms on top of cacti that have been there before you or me. It's absolutely breathtaking. While going back home gave me my fix, I quickly realized that wasn't going to be a long-term solution. I needed a place closer than an eight-hour drive or expensive flight. Luckily, after a couple of years getting to know L.A., I finally found my local desert oasis in Palm Springs and quickly after, Joshua Tree, two locations I can't get enough of today.
It wasn't until our good friends got married in Palm Springs did I discover Moorten Botanical Garden. This quiet adobe filled with varieties of cacti right in the middle of Palm Springs is heaven for this girl from AZ! Plus, the people that work at this little plant haven, our a delight!
