The cover picture this issue shows an Ariocarpus agavoides flowering in October in Roland’s collection. Ariocarpus always give pleasure and especially as they bloom at a time when few other cacti flower. (Some are overwhelmed by mesemb flowers in Autumn - but not if you are a cactus only person!) Roland has written more of his Ariocarpus on page eight, (I mean click here!).

Erumpent

Good heavens: the Word dictionary knows this word! I was introduced to this wonderful word by Nigel Taylor when he gave a masterclass on Rhipsalis. This forgotten genus at once became attractive. Just maybe thanks to Nigel’s macro-photography. Rhipsalis flowers are often very small. But prolific.

Nigel explained that the buds on Rhipsalis were erumpent. This is the posh botanical word for bursting through the epidermis, (errr... skin), of the plant.

Perhaps better known are the flower buds of Echinocereus which also burst out. (I am mindful of the alien in ‘Alien’.) Spent flowers often leave scars which Judges who have been listening at the Judges’ Course know to ignore.

My picture shows an open flower and an erumpent bud on Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. mojavensis. This seems to be having trouble erumpenting. (There; Word doesn’t know this one!) and I wonder if I should be performing a caesarean. A small incision with the scalpel maybe. In the end the plant managed the deed by itself. The crater left in the plant wasn’t so good but that’s nature tooth and claw.

Talking of tooth and claw some Copiapoas have erumpent offsets. Now with those spines that must be really painful!

Echinocereus with erumpant flower bud erupting from the plant. Ouch!

Southfields waves the flag

In late May this year I was lucky enough to visit the Malvern Show. It might be May but the weather was pure April; blustery, (verging on gale force), winds and drenching rain showers. However at these shows there is a lot to do under cover in the wetter interludes.

And I mean the floral tent. It was vast. Nurseries with a display of their wares and sales plants to match. Row after row of them. Even when the plants were not exactly to my taste the displays carefully contrived to show plants at their best.

I lingered at the display by Pleione expert Ian Butterfield and actually bought a couple. (They grow quite well with cacti; pot in cactus mix, water and fertilise during milder weather, keep dry in winter, they tolerate some frost.) There were displays of chrysanthemum, clematis, lilies and orchids to drool over. How do they produce these plants in flower so far from their natural season? I will never aspire to grow plants like these but they were good to look at. Also alpines, and you know I have a soft spot for these.

Then of course there were the cactus displays. Several of them all very good but, as it happened, I came to Southfields last. What a display! Nearly every plant was in flower, it was a superb spectacle. Attracted by the stand, buyers were standing three deep round the sales area. Bryan Goodey was doing a grand job for our hobby. I do hope he makes a decent living from it.

Left: Two Pleiones at Ian Butterfiled's display at Malvern. Top is P. 'Strawberry Fields' and below is P. 'Golden Eagle'.

You will know that these displays are awarded ‘medals’ assessed by RHS Judges. Southfields have won many gold medals over the years at many RHS shows. However this display won the accolade of ‘Best in Show’. I reckon it was justly deserved. But I may be biased. Bryan is not a purist, he likes any cactus (or succulent) with visual appeal and this includes hybrids. Around the centre of the display were many plants of his self-raised Weingartia ‘Masquerade’ hybrids. We know Weingartia species as having flowers of mostly yellow but these were in every colour possible in cacti. Since the genus is noted as bearing multiple flowers from each areole there is the potential for a flowering bonanza. These well grown plants were literally oozing flowers.

On then to the Chelsea Show ten days later. I did not go, (it does not suit my style or pocket), but I can always get the highlights on TV from those wildly gesticulating presenters in fancy dress. However among the hype, especially on the ‘Show’ gardens, (and I wouldn’t want one of them if you paid me), was someone sensible reviewing the cactus displays and Southfields in particular. The display was identical to that from Malvern. Was it Roland at our last meeting who suggested that Malvern was a dress rehearsal for Chelsea?

And did Bryan get a Gold Medal? Yes, of course he won another well-deserved Chelsea Gold. His 25th. How about best display in the floral marquee? No, that went to Warmenhoven. A display of Alliums, Ornithogalum & Amaryllis. (Boring!) But I would anticipate a peculiar result in the year when garden gnomes are allowed at Chelsea. Never before, (and never again!).

Echinocereus bonatzii

You know how it is when you see a new name for sale and it is cheap - you just have to buy it. And try it. So a few years ago I acquired Echinocereus bonatzii, described in 1995 from Durango, Mexico. It was cheap.

Taxonomically the Echinocereus Special Edition from Cactus & Co. places this with Echinocereus pamanesiorum as a subspecies. The CITES checklist thinks it is subspecies of E. adustus and certainly my plant looks most like this to my un-taxonomic eyes. No matter; as a cultivated plant you can see it is worth a pound or so just for the floral display.