Contents Volume 18. No 1
Spring 2007
| The Cover Picture | |
|
Trevor Wray |
|
|
|
|
| Letter from America | Don Campbell |
| In search of Pediocactus simpsonii | Vic Abell |
|
Trevor Wray |
|
| More freshly gathered yarns from the world of seeds | Doug Rowland |
|
Ian Priestley |
|
| Links |
|
|
Cover picture: Turbinicarpus zaragozae is a taxonomic nightmare. Firstly the name used to end -sae; why, when the plant was found near the town of Zarogoza, Nuevo Leon is beyond us mere middle Englanders. It has also names as a Neolloydia, Gymnocactus, Rapicactus and even a Pediocactus but is definitely in the Strombocactus show group, (not the Thelocactus or Pediocactus groups), I think! The plant is a little cracker (like most Turbs), It is just an inch across and is flowering for the first time. I was so impressed I bought another. Maybe two might tango. In cultivation, it has not presented any problems for me, growing slowly but surely in my usual well drained mix in a sunny position with minimal frost protection, however I suspect it would tolerate a few degrees below. In the wild it grows on steep gypsum hills and the experts recommend a dollop of steep gypsum hill in the compost. I didn’t know that and it grows fine without. You can click here for a better image.
|
|
EDITORIAL and more..... |
Welcome to the Spring edition of Northants News.
Looking around the greenhouses over the New Year I was reviewing my successes, disasters and future plans. My disasters had all joined the compost heap; well most of them! Among my successes were my sowing of BCSS seeds: all but one had shown some germination. (The one failure was the white flowered form of Thelocactus bicolor. Why would I want a white flowered version of what must be one of the most colourful and flamboyant of all cacti? I just did! I still do!) Assuming there was originally about 20 seeds in each packet, my sowing of Echinocereus rigidissimus GL 501 was the most successful with 18 youngsters. Since there was little else to do I looked the field number up on Ralph Martin’s website and learned that Gary Loos collected these seeds in the Peloncillo Mountains, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. An interesting addition to one of my favourite genera. Most precarious of my seedlings were the tiny Strombocactus disciformis var. jarmillae. They were the smallest and this was the only seed pot to grow a rich crop of moss. Just one of those things. My New Year plans for the future involve some serious thought on clearing out some plants which do not ‘pay their way’. Those that are damaged, too big, too boring and don’t flower. I have just got to make room for those new GL501 seedlings.
A rainy afternoon
It was winter and raining so I turned my mind to mastering my new all-singing, all–dancing digital camera and in particular seeing if it would team up with my all-singing, all-dancing ring-flash. Naturally the flash is not compatible in auto-mode so I turned it to manual. I fitted some extension rings to my macro lens. Naturally they are not compatible with the camera so I turned that to manual as well. So, groping my way by trial and error, I was eventually able to take some pictures which were satisfying. (Luckily you can preview the pictures on the camera to see if they are vaguely right. Perish the thought of trying this with film!)
|
Looking at a single areole on my Sulcorebutia langeri, (right), the first thing I noticed was the spines were serrated along their length. (You will need to click the image for a better look.) Damaged spines stuck out like a sore thumb; luckily Show judges would not be looking in this much detail. At the near microscopic level the odd speck of sand looked like a boulder. If I ever take the definitive image I would have to vacuum the plant. Or get the ‘Boulder removing tool’ out in Photoshop. |
|
|
|
I turned the lens towards a plant of Sulcorebutia mizquensis. Another neat plant with interlacing spines. The spines were entirely different - and sharp. Lucky they lie against the body or this would be a difficult plant to handle. |
|
|
Anyway, in a few hours, I mastered the camera technique and learned a little botany. There are a few close up snaps you might try and identify. The one on the left was so interesting I have added a better image. You can click for it. You can email me, or the answers (if I remember) will be in the next issue. (As this is now published you can use the NN time machine - click here.) |
|
Jack’s auction
I had just got back from the auction of Jack Bramhill’s collection. Jack died unexpectedly but had the foresight to make provision for disposing of his much loved plants. Cacti and succulents require very little care for long periods but they can go downhill very quickly – an unventilated greenhouse in a heat wave will kill everything fairly quickly, winter frost will destroy tropical plants in a night.
So, it was a sunny but chilly morning in late October. Our feet were c-c-c-cold but our tops were warm. A dozen or so members attended, there were a few from neighbouring branches and DK led us quickly through the bidding. Cathy Darbon kept the score and collected the money (thanks Cath) and Graham Charles gave us a masterclass on the plants under the hammer. It would have made a brilliant branch evening!
However I was there (after a tough night’s work) to record the occasion and purchase a souvenir, or maybe two. Jack’s interest was mainly Mammillarias and Agaves and there were a lot of them. Strangely a lot of the small ones gravitated to me. (Don’t tell the FL but I think it was 80.) How can you resist four potted seedlings for a pound or two? OK, sometimes they were Mammillarias. Sometimes they were rather choice Mammillarias! Jack had some Zone and Branch Show winners and these went for serious money but there was something there for everyone. Geof Bowman (of the Agave Reference Collection) actually bought some Agaves!
Freda, Jack’s wife, stayed throughout, which I thought was very brave, especially considering the cold. She kept us supplied with coffee and cake. Thanks Freda. I thought it was an event that Jack would have enjoyed. I am sure he would have bought some plants! And laughed! I hope I can do justice to his plants.
Now I must tell the FL what I want done with my plants. (Though I am planning to grow them ‘till I am 150.) I want my friends to have and enjoy them and the branch and a charity (conservation?) to benefit. Simple...
While I was at Jack's I met Geof Bowman. You will perhaps know Geof who grows the Agave reference collection. Geof thought we might be interested in the local newspapers cover of his flowering ‘cactus’. If you do not know what is wrong have a quiet word with someone on ‘ta committee!
We
had some accommodation vouchers left over from our trip to Baja California. Don
Campbell writes…
This issue of the magazine brings you the good, the bad and the ugly (the last are on page 10, I mean you can click here). Friends from outside our branch have contributed articles, especially thanks Don, Doug and Vic for that.
Enjoy the magazine and great growing in 2007
Trev_trevorwray@aol.com
Some people have complained they can't email me at the address above. True... the actual address is the bit after Trev_
|
Dear Auntie G |
|
Dear Auntie G, Can I ask for some of your worldly wisdom please? A cactus friend of mine surprised me a few days ago, when he said that real cactus enthusiasts should only buy from cactus dealers who offer properly marketed, e.g. professionally potted and labelled plants. I believe he was thinking of people like E Specks – in Germany and Southfield Nurseries, who obviously do sell many beautifully presented cacti and succulents. |
However, I like rooting around under nurserymen’s staging……you never quite know what you may turn up! Indeed, I have found many rare and unusual plants when I do this, but now I’m very worried.
Am I perverted and do I need to tell the local constabulary about my obsession?
Please, what do you recommend? I’m at my wit’s end worrying that the Society will cancel my membership and throw me out if it knows the truth!
L. U. R Kerr.
Dear Mr. Kerr
I am sorry but you are indeed perverted and need urgent treatment for your psychosis. A real gentleman (or lady) never, ever grows good plants under the staging. If you feel you have found ‘rare and unusual’ plants in such a situation at a nursery you have been deluded. In the well run nurseryman’s sales area the rare and unusual ones are always right by the door. Waist high. And they are £10, £20 or even £50. (In Germany this will be €16, €32 or… or mmm… lots of Euros.)
As to calling the police, your Auntie knows that the prisons are already full of well intentioned people who happened to (merely) look under the staging, (so to speak). I suspect that your name could be a pseudonym and in fact you are well known and respected as a committee member at N&MK. If so DO NOT TAKE THE RISK!!!!
However if you do, please be assured that your Auntie G will stand bail for you and be a character reference if the worst should happen. With a guilty plea and remission you might be released before the 2008 National Show. If you are, do not, under any circumstances look under the staging. You will know it is not worth it.
Your Auntie G
|
Back issues of the NMK Branch magazine |
|
|
