Cactus Joe's Blue Diamond Nursery

Tucked away near Red Rock Canyon, Cactus Joe’s Blue Diamond Nursery is an eclectic oasis in the Mojave Desert. The nursery’s primary focus is on providing native and drought-tolerant plants, with an emphasis on desert conservation.

The nursery has been operating for more than 30 years. It’s run by Joe Davidson (the “Cactus Joe” of the nursery’s name), who also lives on the property. Davidson bought the property in 1989, and has spent the last several decades building the space that exists today.

Mixed in with all of the desert plants is a wide variety of unique metal, ceramic, and stone yard art, as well as outdoor furniture offerings and even rocks and minerals. The most wonderful thing about all of this is that it’s mostly outdoors, displayed as part of and alongside beautiful examples of desert landscaping. 

You’ll also find a number of Joshua Trees on the property, a collection of unique desert plants that came from abandoned mines throughout the Southwest. According to the Las Vegas Sun, “Davidson purchased the mines so he could scour them for native plants and sell them at the nursery, all with the approval of the Nevada Division of Forestry.”

But there’s more to Cactus Joe’s than just plants and yard art. Also on the property is a small chapel, a meditation labyrinth, a pond with aquatic animals such as koi fish and turtles, and even a basketball game taken straight from a traveling carnival. There’s also a gift shop that’s open on Saturdays and Sundays that offers crystals, fossils, Indigenous pottery, and all kinds of other goodies reminiscent of the Mojave for sale. Cactus Joe’s is a love letter to the desert, and is a striking place to visit and explore.