Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Campus Theatre
Seven headed palm tree at Cachiche town, Ica, Peru — Translation on poster: “dates”
The Seven-Headed Palm Tree
The Whale Museum
Old locomotive a blue, angry face awaits on the tracks with the railway station in the background
Children's Railway
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Caru' cu Bere
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
An illustration of Port Royal from the book “On the Spanish Main.”
Port Royal: The Rise and (Literal) Fall of a Booming Pirate City
1 day ago
Museum founder Paul Stewart often traveled to local classrooms, like this Denver elementary school, to share the stories of Colorado’s Black Cowboys.
The Black American West Museum Celebrates the Black Cowboy
2 days ago
Charlie’s Place: Music, Mystery & Civil Rights.
Charlie’s Place Episode 1: Whispering Pines
4 days ago
The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the Marin Headlands at sunrise.
Listener Stories of Leaving Home: From San Francisco to Japan
6 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Pasadena California Cactus Center

California Cactus Center

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

Pasadena, California

Added By
Rachel Mansur
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Succulents for sale.   http://www.cactuscenter.com
Succulents for sale.   http://www.cactuscenter.com
Rare and unusual cacti.   http://www.cactuscenter.com
A Euphorbia medusoid cactus.   http://www.cactuscenter.com/grammer1_1.html
Euphorbia ‘Zig Zag’   http://www.cactuscenter.com/grammer1_1.html
Agave.   http://www.cactuscenter.com/grammer1_1.html
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
  James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The California Cactus Center may be small in comparison to the Huntington Gardens and Los Angeles County Arboretum, both of which are located down the street, but it rivals its esteemed neighbors in terms of the beauty and rarity of the unusual cacti and succulents it has for sale.

Succulents are ubiquitous in Southern California, and some of that is thanks to the California Cactus Center. With nursery facilities in Indio and Chino, they supply local municipalities, businesses, and even universities with succulents and cacti for all their landscaping needs. Recently, they supplied the plants for the grounds of a new Google campus nearby, and the succulents for a large landscaping project at the University of California, Riverside. However, they also specialize in rare and hard to find succulents and cacti, with specimens from all over the world. While most are grown in their nurseries, some especially rare species and cultivars are transplanted (extremely carefully) from all over the world, and a beautiful few are over a century old. Some of these rare plants are bred for conservation, with some offspring made available for sale. 

The owners are friendly and helpful, and have an adorable one-eyed cat. Even if you aren't in the market for new, unusual plants (like a gorgeous, professionally-staged show-quality Euphorbia medusoid) perusing their collection is certainly worth a visit.

Whether the cats missing eye has anything to do with the abundant cacti around the shop is unknown.

Related Tags

Plants Purveyors Of Curiosities

Know Before You Go

Parking is scarce, but some is available around the corner on the street.

Community Contributors

Added By

Rachel Mansur

Edited By

James Ricci, mbison

  • James Ricci
  • mbison

Published

August 27, 2009

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
California Cactus Center
216 South Rosemead Blvd.
Pasadena, California, 91107
United States
34.142552, -118.072929
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Arcadia, California

miles away

Sierra Madre Wistaria Vine

Sierra Madre, California

miles away

Carnivorous Plants at the Huntington Gardens

San Marino, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pasadena

Pasadena

California

Places 42

Nearby Places

Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Arcadia, California

miles away

Sierra Madre Wistaria Vine

Sierra Madre, California

miles away

Carnivorous Plants at the Huntington Gardens

San Marino, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pasadena

Pasadena

California

Places 42

Related Places

  • Karuizawa Museum of Picture Books in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan

    Karuizawa, Japan

    Karuizawa Picture Book Forest Museum

    Children's literature inside, forest all around.

  • London, England

    Columbia Road Shops and Flower Market

    The Columbia Road Flower Market is now open every Sunday, rain or shine.

  • Present day Huautla de Jiménez

    Huautla de Jiménez, Mexico

    Huautla de Jiménez

    Southern Mexico under the influence of mushrooms, ceremony and celebrity.

  • Calistoga, California

    Calistoga Petrified Forest

    The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

  • Toni Portell studied gardening and founded the business in 1972.

    Ses Salines, Spain

    Toni Moreno’s Cactus Nursery

    Thousands of rare and sculptural desert plants are cultivated in a surreal, open-air landscape unlike anything else on Mallorca.

  • Visalia, California

    Sequoia Legacy Tree

    Far out of its comfort zone, this sequoia was planted as a symbol of the connection between Visalia and its neighboring national park.

  • Tulare County, California

    Mark Twain Stump

    The last remnant of a tree that helped prove to the world that sequoias are real—and they’re spectacular.

  • The Willow Globe shortly after it was planted

    Llanwrthwl, Wales

    Willow Globe Theatre

    In the middle of a Welsh field, a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is made out of living branches.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.