The Deutsch Garden - Fresno Cactus and Succulent Society

THE DEUTSCH CACTUS GARDEN— A SORT OF A SAGA
By Sue Haffner
Our newer members may not be aware of the Deutsch Cactus Garden, a public display garden situated
at the Discovery Center, 1937 N. Winery in Fresno (between McKinley and Clinton, east side). If you are
putting in cactus and succulent landscape plants, the Deutsch Garden is a good reference for which
species will be hardy in our area.
The garden has been in place for about 15 years. Before that, the plants, rocks and various artifacts
were in Fred Deutsch’ s backyard on north Van Ness Avenue, near Rialto. Mr. Deutsch, an early day
automobile dealer in Fresno, had over the years built up a most amazing and idiosyncratic cactus
garden. He and his wife Perle enjoyed exploring the deserts and travelling to Mexico, bringing home all
sorts of mementos— plants, rocks, Indian artifacts, old car parts, any sort of object that caught his eye.
Gradually, probably with no definite plan in mind, he began to transform his backyard into his own
“ desert” . He shaped his garden and added elements as his fancy took him— the “ Hopi house’ , made
from hardpan and adobe (it was actually a garage accessible from an alley at the rear of the property);
high mounds which could only be climbed via spiral paths, but which were covered with plants, anyway;
a fascinating wall at the back of the garden made of rocks, fossils, minerals, sea shells, Mexican carvings,
etc. Everywhere you turned you could find another bit of whimsy. Mr. Deutsch loved showing people
around. Every plant and rock had its own story, some of them a bit ribald.
In the mid-1960s Mr. Deutsch first suggested giving the property to Fresno County, provided that the
garden be maintained as a park, eventually open to the public. Along with the property, he would also
include a $250,000 trust fund to be used for upkeep expenses. The County accepted the property in
1977 and approved a conditional use permit to convert the garden into a park, but agreed that it would
not be opened to the public until after Mr. and Mrs. Deutsch had both passed on.
The prospect of a public park in their exclusive area aroused the ire of many of the Deutsch neighbors.
They embarked upon a lengthy legal battle to prevent its establishment. Your editor and other members
of our club, most especially the late Edith Puckett, attended Planning Commission meetings, met with
the neighbors and their big name attorney, wrote letters to The Bee, all to the end of preserving the
garden.
Mr. Deutsch died in 1980. In 1981, the lawyers for the neighbors pressured the Board of Supervisors to
reconsider the conditional use permit. Their argument was that the permit should be revoked until the
park was available for public use— and it wasn’ t yet because Mrs. Deutsch was still living. The Board
voted to revoke the permit, with only Supervisor Sharon Levy voting in favor of the garden.
Mrs. Deutsch died in 1987. By that time, the county was in such a budget crisis that even established
parks were being threatened with total closure. It did not appear that they were interested in taking on

another high-maintenance responsibility. The garden was beginning to suffer with Mr. Deutsch’ s
absence and the house and outbuildings needed work.
In addition to the garden and real estate, the Deutschs had amassed a matchless collection of Indian
artifacts, specifically Yokuts baskets and cradleboards. Remember that Mr. Deutsch was an automobile
dealer. The Indians wanted cars but often didn’ t have all the necessary cash, so he did a lot of bartering.
In the early days, there was little interest in these items, but by the time that concerns us here this
collection was recognized for its value. Just to keep things complicated, Mr. and Mrs. Deutsch, who had
no children, had separate wills wherein they split the artifacts collection. If I remember correctly, his half
went to the county (he wanted the house kept as a museum), while hers went to the University of
California. The last I had heard— many years ago— the county’ s share of these items had been sent to
the Met Museum, and we were relieved that they were in a safe place. Seeing that the Met went under
in the past year, I’ ve thought again about those baskets and wonder whatever became of them.
For a span of years, the county provided minimal maintenance at the Deutsch place. A member of our
club, a young woman named Catherine Fowler, took on the garden as a project, working like a demon to
keep the place presentable and campaigned for its preservation. Visitors still dropped by the garden,
especially in spring when the cacti were in bloom. Eventually, though, the county wanted closure on this
matter and the court appointed Jim Ford as the fiduciary to settle the estate. Alternate sites for the
garden were considered in 1994, with the Discovery Center emerging as the favorite. The Center
engaged in extensive planning for the move, including a new irrigation system, relandscaping,
professional plant movers, etc. The plants were inventoried and at least 1 of each species was replanted
at the Center. All the rocks were moved, as well. The first several years of the new garden (the Deutsch
Garden 2.0, perhaps) involved some “ settling in.” Some plants were lost and had to be replaced. It was a
learning experience for those in charge.
Over the years, the new garden has evolved in its own way toward its own identity. It’ s a lovely and
interesting place. Our Paul Mitchell has been the paid curator for some years. The Deutsch Trust still
provides means for its upkeep. The original fiduciary, Jim Ford, has been replaced by Raymond Love,
who has final authority over the Trust.
What happened to the original property? It was sold, the house and other buildings knocked down, the
place bulldozed flat. It was valuable property and a wealthy neighbor had his eyes on it. I haven’ t been
by the place in a long time.
What is a garden, anyway? It’ s a personal creation, one’ s own work of art, perhaps. Unlike a painting or
a sculpture, though, a garden is not static. It grows and changes. Just a few years after his death Fred
Deutsch’ s garden had begun to mutate into something else, no longer the special place that sang to me
when I first saw it in the 1970s. We create gardens according to our own visions and for our own
reasons; they give us pleasure and perhaps others also. Maybe this is as much as we can expect, and we
should be satisfied with that.