Made Local Magazine, September/October 2025

Surrounded by succulents, snake plants, and philodendrons in her downtown Santa Rosa shop, Ana Prado describes herself as “Con el nopal en la frente,” which translates to “with a cactus on the forehead.” 

For the founder of a new plant boutique on Courthouse Square, this might seem an apt if somewhat odd description. But the expression refers not to her botanical passion but rather to her heritage. Long used as a derogatory term, it describes Mexicans in the U.S. who are seen as failing to assimilate—who, no matter how hard they try, can’t hide where they come from. As if, quite literally, they have a cactus growing from their forehead.

But Prado, the daughter of immigrants, is on a mission to reclaim that expression as a source of pride. Because were it not for those roots—that cactus on her forehead—she wouldn’t be here today and nor would her shop, Blooming Coast.