CACTUS POWER: George Bissell, architect of the...

CACTUS POWER: George Bissell, architect of the Bowers Museum renovation (OC Live!, Page 3), considered the large cactus growing near the museum’s entrance “a total throwaway” he could discard in sprucing up the courtyard. But that was before he learned the plant is treated as something sacred by the museum staff--it dates back to at least the Bowers opening in 1936. Bissell had to reconfigure his plans to protect it, which may be the first time a succulent has become a design element in a multimillion dollar expansion.