Jungle Cactus! At the Los Angeles County Arboretum

Here we go—back to late November 2021 and my visit to the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. I wish I could accurately convey the excitement I felt when I stumbled upon this jungle cactus display...I've circled the area we're exploring in yellow below on the map...
I thought I was heading towards a pair of greenhouses and was completely unprepared for this seemingly random assemblage of rhipsalis and epiphyllum. It was like I had stumbled into a collectors back backyard, not part of a "proper" botanic garden.
Oh and I said "seemingly random" because I suspect to someone who can break the code it's not actually random at all...




When I mentioned my joy over exploring this part of the garden to a LA "epiphyte enthusiast" who I am connected to online, he credited "the local epiphyllum society" for doing a great job with the space.
I want to live somewhere that has an epiphyllum society!


So many jungle cactus!
I examined them all, trying to see how anyone could learn to differentiate between Clown 16, Clown 14, and Clown 11. What do those names even mean!?
Then I spied this beauty—Selenicereus chrysocardium. OMG! It was huge...
Maybe this image will give you a better idea of the scale.
Eventually I tore myself away from the outdoor display and made my way to the greenhouse marked "Carnivorous Plants/Epiphyllum Collection" on the map. This is what greeted me.
Dammit! Were the plants I'd just been drooling over usually inside the greenhouse? Were there other fabulous plants in there that I couldn't see? Ugh. I carried on...