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The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

In 1974, Father Patrick McPolin made a proposal to the Long Beach Cactus Club: Turn the sunny dirt patch next to his home at Dominguez Rancho Adobe into a cactus garden, and you can use the state historic site's carriage house for all of your future meetings. Thirty-six years later, the deal still sands. Club volunteers tend to the little-known garden, a pocket of desert exotica near the border of Compton. Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.

In 1974, Father Patrick McPolin made a proposal to the Long Beach Cactus Club: Turn the sunny dirt patch next to his home at Dominguez Rancho Adobe into a cactus garden, and you can use the state historic site’s carriage house for all of your future meetings.

Thirty-six years later, the deal still sands. Club volunteers tend to the little-known garden, a pocket of desert exotica near the border of Compton.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

The garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe is full of interesting colors, shapes and textures. Pictured here: the spiny waves of a euphorbia plant.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

The flower stalk of Agave titanota.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

The fiery bloom of an aloe.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

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The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

A Rufous hummingbird rests in the Dominguez Rancho Adobe garden.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

Agave parryi var. huachucensis.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

John Luhnow, president of the Long Beach Cactus Club, tends the garden. Above him rises a floss silk tree, minus the pink flowers that make it a Southern California standout.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

The trunk of the floss silk tree is studded with thorns.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

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The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

Spines aglow in the morning light.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

Another agave.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / For The Times)

The cactus garden at Dominguez Rancho Adobe

The Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum and its grounds are open for free guided tours every Wednesday and Sunday as well as the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the month.

Read the full story about this unusual relationship between a garden club and a missionary.   (Axel Koester / Los Angeles Times)

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