Moorten Botanical Gardens February 4, 2010

Located at the southern end of Palm Canyon Drive, the Moorten Botanical Gardens and Cactarium is a favorite Palm Springs attraction and the enduring legacy of Patricia and Chester "Cactus Slim" Moorten. Both shared a love of the Desert and its beauty, plants and wildlife. Nicknamed Slim for his tall lanky form and work as a contortionist, Moorten was one of the original Keystone Cops and became the stand-in for Howard Hughes. Poor health led him to Palm Springs in the 1930s with his young wife Patricia, a biologist with a special interest in botany. Together they explored the surrounding area collecting desert plants and in 1938 created an arboretum.