We'd love for you to join us. Visitors welcomed!
They are fun, educational, and you will leave with more plants!
Check out our latest recorded programs on YouTube.
In-person Meeting
Speakers: Marek and Maria Kawka - Back in January 2023, CSSMers Marek and Maria Kawka joined a Plant Expedition trip to the Yemeni island of Socotra. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Socotra is situated in the Arabian Sea between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
It was an amazing adventure - Maria and Marek were lucky enough to see many of the unique endemic plants of Socotra. They also enjoyed experiencing the interesting culture of local Yemeni people.
Our intrepid travelers will share pictures of the many plants that were in bloom as well as a few stories from their travels around Socotra.
Don’t miss this amazing journey as seen through the eyes and cameras of our very own club members Marek and Maria.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Norfolk Public Library - 2 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
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In-person Meeting
Speaker: Matt Mattus - Bulbs from the southern hemisphere have always been on plantsman Matt Mattus’ list of favorite plants, but it wasn’t until he built a greenhouse did his collection really take off with the addition of fall, winter and spring blooming South African and South American geophytes.
Join Matt as he shares with us his latest passions, collections and adventures with these bulbs (and their allies) growing in his Central Massachusetts greenhouse.
Our Speaker:
Matt is the author of two books, writes for many gardening magazines and his garden and greenhouse has been featured in magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens to name a few. He is the past president of the North American Rock Gardening Society and lives and gardens in Worcester.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Norfolk Public Library - 2 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
In-person Celebration
No formal meeting, we’ll be having a potluck lunch with lots of laughter, an optional gift swap, and gift plants for all registered attendees. CSSM Registered Members only.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: First Universalist Society Meeting House - 262 Chestnut St, Franklin, MA 02038
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Virtual meeting via Zoom
Speaker: Michelle Cloud-Hughes - Michelle Cloud-Hughes is a botanist and restoration ecologist specializing in the cacti, succulents, and rare plants of the North American deserts. This talk will provide a scenic and botanically diverse meander through the deserts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico while discussing the fundamental importance of scientific botanical fieldwork to the conservation, propagation, and restoration of the cacti and succulents we all love. This talk will focus on the diverse desert habitats and plant communities Michelle has explored during her rare plant surveys and cholla research, with an emphasis on the “cold” Mojave and Great Basin Deserts. She will discuss some optimistic cactus and succulent restoration projects currently happening in the southwest and provide suggestions for cold-hardy native plants and general tips for more closely emulating native habitats in a garden setting.
Our Speaker:
Michelle Cloud-Hughes began her career working for the Soil Ecology and Restoration Group at San Diego State University, working mainly in the California deserts. In 2010 she started her company, Desert Solitaire Botany and Ecological Restoration, and since then has worked on rare plant surveys and other botanical research and restoration projects throughout the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. She is an authority on the genus Cylindropuntia and an author of Cylindropuntia chuckwallensis, a rare California endemic and the most recent addition to California’s cactus flora. Most recently, she and her fellow chollistas published ×Cylindronia robertsii, the first documented intergeneric hybrid between Cylindropuntia and Grusonia.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Zoom details to be sent to members
Virtual meeting via Zoom
Speaker: John Trager - Succulent fans who keep an eye on CSSA’s journals have probably noticed that the annual summer issue features dozens of eye-popping, must-have, unusual specimens that are offered for sale by the Huntington Botanical Garden in California, as part of their International Succulent Introductions program (ISI). The aim of ISI is to propagate and distribute new or rare succulents to collectors, nurseries, and institutions. (In keeping with environmental ethics, only plants that have been properly propagated in a nursery environment without harm to wild populations are offered.) Unusual and beautiful colors, forms, and characteristics advance the Huntington’s pursuit of aesthetics, conservation, education, and science.
Where do these living artworks come from? Who decides which ones will make the lineup each year? John Trager, Curator of Desert Collections at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, is responsible for this annual beauty pageant of plants, and he’ll be joining us remotely by Zoom for our February meeting. He’ll give us a history of the program, how it came into the Huntington’s care, and how it keeps on finding and propagating remarkable new offerings.
Our Speaker:
John Trager is the Curator of Desert Collections at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, where he also oversees the annual International Succulent Introductions program (ISI), which presents to the public unfamiliar species and newly hybridized offerings which can be purchased by the public.
John’s horticultural writing has appeared in numerous books and horticultural journals. His photography has appeared in many landmark works, including The Genus Conophytum, Dumpling and His Wife, and Lithops: Treasures of the Veld, all by Steven Hammer; Gordon Rowley’s The Succulent Compositae, and his Anacampseros, and Crassula books; and the multi-authored, six-volume reference, The Illustrated Handbook of Succulents.
John has traveled widely in search of plants (and insects), including China, Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico, Namibia, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela. CSSA’s Journal readers will recognize John’s masterful photography and writing in its annual summer report on the current ISI offerings.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Zoom details to be sent to members
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Speaker: Matt Opel - Many different plants have specialized, symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationships with ants, and these "ant plants" or myrmecophytes include a number of species that are of interest to succulent-plant enthusiasts. Matt Opel will introduce the world of succulent ant plants, covering their ecology, peculiar forms, and cultivation. The focus will be on the caudiciform species, including Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum, and leaf-succulents like Hoya and Discidia, but there will be ant-orchids and even ant-ferns with succulent stems as well.
Our Speaker:
Matt is a native New Yorker and long-time resident of northeastern Connecticut. He is currently the collections scientist for the University of Connecticut Botanical Conservatory, perhaps the most diverse greenhouse collection in New England. Matt's area of specialization is South African succulent plants, especially the genus Conophytum, but he's interested in many other groups, including the ant plants. Tylecodon opelii, a dwarf tuberous succulent from South Africa, was named in his honor.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Norfolk Public Library - 2 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
Speaker: Frank Streeter - Member Frank Streeter will introduce us to Pachypodiums, a genus of spiny trees and shrubs native to Madagascar and Africa, and generally recognizable by an enlarged trunk which stores water. Frank will show photos of the 25 species in the genus, with a concentration on those that are most popular in horticulture.
Frank will discuss cultivation in containers in Massachusetts and hopes to correct some common misconceptions about how to grow them. He will share tips on growing these amazing plants in our northern temperate climate; and discuss starting them from seed.
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Norfolk Public Library - 2 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
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Who you gonna call when bugs attack your plants?
The Bug Busters of course!
Yes, pest control will be our focus at this month’s meeting. Please join our distinguished panel as they share their secrets in controlling those annoying, destructive, nasty, plant-killing pests that return every year to snack on our favorite Cacti and Succulents.
Our Bug Busters Panel includes:
Margot Hammer vs. Mealies,
Jean Butler vs. Scale,
Art Scarpa vs. Fungus,
Tom Chen vs. Fungus Gnats, and
Mark Schlepphorst vs. Spidermites
With input and comments from all members welcome!
Time: 1:00p-4:00p
Location: Norfolk Public Library - 2 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
Join fellow CSSMers at our annual June Picnic. This year we will meet for fun, sun, and good times at a beautiful location in Massachusetts. Event details will be sent to all members in May 2024. Stay tuned!
Time: 1 - 3 PM
Location: will be emailed
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