July 2019

Lithops (living stones)
PHOTO: Brenda Rees
since it was one of the first specimens in Zhalermwudh’s collection).
This slow-growing cactus with no needles requires a delicate procedure to fertilize
the female flowers in order to produce seeds — a task the Thongthiraj girls learned
at an early age. Arree would use a horsehair brush to gather the pollen on the male
flowers and gently deposit the powdery substance onto the female flowers. “We made
cones out of window screen material and placed them on top of the female flowers in
the summertime,” she says. When the heat caused the seed pods to finally burst open,
she adds, there was a “popcorn-like noise all over the place. It was pretty fun and very
neat.”
These days, Arree’s sister Sue handles propagation duties at the nursery. She’s often
behind her work table, prepping containers, observing the progress on certain youngsters
and carefully extracting and cultivating small offspring. Cuttings are the easiest
way to propagate; seeds can take up to two years to germinate.
Sue’s hands hold the descendants of her father’s collection. Many plants at the center
can be directly traced back to the Thongthiraj home, whether they were propagated
via seed dispersal or cuttings. “My father had a personal goal of propagating a million
golden barrels from seed,” she says, as she shows a selection of tiny seeds collected
from the cactus flowers of Echinocactus grusonii.
Zhalermwudh did not achieve that benchmark during his lifetime; Arree and Sue
roughly calculate that he got to about 500,000 before he passed away in 1998. (You
can see 550 of Zhalermwudh’s golden barrel descendants at the Getty Center.)
While friction is common in any family business, Arree and her siblings have
managed to keep drama down while improving on and expanding their father’s dream.
Malinee Romero captains the center’s popular video channel, posting short tutorial
videos on all aspects of care of cacti and succulents along with design tips. Sister Molly
oversees the business side; and even Took Took, an English professor at Pasadena City
College, rolls up her sleeves at the center during school breaks. Along with the oldest
sister, Smanjai, the siblings all care for their 87-year-old mother.
To keep the business as a family endeavor, 10-year-old Evanlee, Arree’s nephew
and the sisters’ only offspring, has been coming to the nursery to learn the secrets of
succulents and cacti. “We’d like very much to continue as a family business, so we
are in the process of grooming him,” says Arree with a sparkle in her eye. Like the
generation before him, the youngster is learning the art of propagation (mainly from
his Aunt Sue) along with all the other horticultural complexities. Fortunately for him,
he won’t be required to propagate 1,000 flats as his aunties had to do.
Arree says her father’s presence is still felt every day as she walks past the giant
tree aloe from South Africa (Aloe bainseii) that graces the outside of the business along
with a Bombax ellipticum, better known as a shaving brush tree. “This is the largest
aloe tree you’ll ever see,” she says of the center’s stately unofficial landmark — originally
planted by her father. “He wanted to make sure we would be always be taken
care of; that’s why he created this business for us.” ||||
California Cactus Center is located at 216 Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena. Hours are
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday.
Call (626) 795-2788 or visit cactuscenter.com.
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