Contents Volume 16. No 3
Autumn / Winter 2005
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Trevor Wray | |
| The Cover Picture | |
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Colin Walker |
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Jack Bramhill | |
| Cactus Explorers' weekend | Jack and Trev |
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Trevor Wray |
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Barry Tibbetts |
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Trevor Wray |
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Roland Tebbenham |
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EDITORIAL and more..... |
| Shock horror!
‘It is succulent but not a succulent’, says judge John Watmough (right) of a ‘potted’ cristate cucumber at our Show. Read Show Sec Barry’s report on his ‘faves’ on page 12. I suppose since you are reading the internet edition I should add a link. Incidentally the cucumber created a great deal more interest at the Garden Centre than some of our plants. There is no accounting for taste! |
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Under and overpotting:
Over potting is undesirable – the plants look silly, the compost remains wet and the plant rots and dies.
Underpotting is undesirable – the plants look silly, may even fall over, growth may be stunted and the only justification is to squeeze the specimen into a small pot for a limited pot class at a show. If the underpotting is gross then the judge will ignore the plant anyway.
It is perceived wisdom that plants grow best when planted out and given a free root run. What is the difference between this and over-potting? I give up.
The not-so-dusty library:
I wrote of a possible digital future in the last issue. We came a jump along that route when the US Soc published the first 20 years of its journal on a DVD. (There is one in the branch library.) Fantastic to read the first ever issue from 1929. Every, or all, the issues can be quickly searched. At random I searched the first 20 years for ‘Sulcorebutia’ - not a squeak! Then I remembered that Sulcos were not invented until 1951. The search worked a lot better with ‘mammillaria’!
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Cactus Club vendors in action… Top: Simon and Jeff Capel with Jack K at Castle Ashby and below Darren and David at Holdenby House.
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At the Flower Fete: Potential customer (thoughtfully): ‘I was just thinking about it yesterday.’ Cactus Club vendor (wistfully): ‘I was just thinking about it yesterday…’ Second cactus club vender (cruelly): ‘That’s what you do at your age.’ Potential customer: ‘I was thinking I needed a thingy for my thingy.’ Cactus Club vender: ‘I think I know what thingy you need for your thingy.’ Eventually we sold the lady a succulent for her conservatory. As you know from our programme we turn up at several plant fairs a year in Northants Country. Generally our sales team is led by the Capels who delight in sending our customers away with just the right plant for the right place and at the right price. The branch is rewarded financially and this is a help to affording our excellent speakers’ list, printing and posting this magazine and the purchases for our comprehensive library. However what is more important is that we are there telling people about our plants, advising them and educating them. On a bitingly cold June day (well this is an English summer!) we may welcome strollers with the greeting, “You have come at just the right time to buy a cactus. With global warming there will be a shortage shortly and you can still buy some here at discounted prices. |
Anemotrophic
Anemotrophic ( - there, an issue with this lovely word three times - we are going up market!) is a word that springs immediately to mind every time I visit a desert in the Spring. I am sure you know the meaning...? Roland brings us more on the back page.
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Guess the species: This little cactus (right) turned up on the identification table at the 2005 Judges’ Course. A very close look shows it has dried flower remains with no spines. Any ideas? You only need the genus! Then state which show group it is in (and you are allowed the ‘Guide to Shows’). Answer on page 10. Oops done it again! Oh, an Editorial - enjoy the mag! Trev_trevorwray@aol.com |
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