When and Where
Why Attend Our Meetings?
Why Attend Our Meetings?
We'd love for you to join us. Visitors welcomed!
Why Attend Our Meetings?
Why Attend Our Meetings?
Why Attend Our Meetings?
They are fun, educational, and you will leave with more plants!
CSSM Recorded Programs
Why Attend Our Meetings?
CSSM Recorded Programs
Check out our latest recorded programs on YouTube.
CSSM Monthly Programs
Via ZOOM Meeting September 19, 2020 - Kelly Griffin: Cacti and Succulents of Chile
Note Change in Start Time from 1pm to 3:30pm!
Kelly Griffin is a plant explorer, propagator, hybridizer, researcher, writer and photographer, speaker, nursery owner, and manager of succulent plant development for Altman Plants. He is also a Director of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America.
He has introduced over 100 succulents, including the popular Aloe ‘Christmas Carol’, Agave ‘Blue Glow’, and Agave guiengola ‘Creme Brulee’. Kelly has been credited by Denver Botanic Garden’s Panayote Kelaidis as having “propelled overnight the container succulent craze across the U.S".
Kelly comes to us warmly recommended by long-time friend and mentor Woody Minnich, who was our featured speaker in October 2019.
Time: 3:30p-5:30p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via ZOOM Meeting October 17, 2020 - Russell Wagner: Mesembs
Note Change in Start Time from 1pm to 3:30pm!
Russell is the founder of Little Sphaeroid Press, which publishes fine books on succulent plants and desert ecologies. He is also past Editor of the Cactus and Succulent Journal, which is the magazine of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. Russell maintains a large and varied collection of seed-grown mesembs, rare winter-rainfall bulbs and other neophytes, succulent daisies, and a smattering of miniature cacti. An enthusiast of growing from seed (95% of his collection came from seed he grew himself), Russell loves to encourage people to try it.
Topic: Russell will lead off with a tour of his greenhouse, then segue into a slide presentation touching on an overview of the Mesembryanthemum genera with many of his own photos of plants in cultivation and habitat, also touching on his experiences in hybridization and exploration.
Time: 3:30p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via ZOOM Meeting November 21, 2020 - Gunnar Eisel: The Folklore, Enchantment, and Evolution of the C&S Hobby from 1889 to the Present Day
Note Change in Start Time from 1pm to 3:30pm!
The allure of cacti and succulents has fascinated people for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. However, unlike some other horticultural endeavors, interest in C&S is fairly new. This program focuses on the people, the changing American landscape, and a curious set of events that have shaped our hobby as we find it today.
Gunnar Eisel's interest in cacti and succulents can be traced back to his childhood infatuation with photographing night-blooming cereus flowers and a few unfortunate encounters with opuntia glochids. His interest in cacti became intensified through many annual trips to the Anza-Borrego desert.
Born and raised near Heidelberg, Germany, Eisel taught music at CSULA, CSUF, Whittier College, and Fullerton College. He recently retired as music professor at Citrus College in Glendora where his students were frequently subjected to his rantings regarding cacti and succulents.
An avid C&S collector, he serves as Executive Director of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America and President of the San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Society.
Time: 3:30p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting December 19, 2020 - Lau Magner: Westward Ho! The Southwest Unmasked
Note New Start Time of 3:30pm!
Lau, past President and currently a Vice President of CSSM, is known for leading unique expeditions to the desert Southwest in pursuit of plants, national parks, quirky American roadside discoveries (Kathy’s Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe, Area 51, The Goddess Institute), and hole-in-the-wall authentic Mexican eateries.
Lau will present a travelogue sharing the sights and mostly true exploits of his most recent expedition (pre Covid-19) leading a band of 20+ CSSM members who made camp in Ajo, Arizona and explored south to Mexico, east to Tucson, and west to Quitobaquito.
Time: 3:30p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting January 16, 2021 - Panayoti Kelaidis: Prickly Pears — Perhaps the Best Cacti for Just About Anyone
Start Time at 3:30pm!
Panayoti Kelaidis is a plant explorer, gardener and public garden administrator associated with Denver Botanic Gardens where he is now Director of Outreach. He began his career at DBG in 1980 as curator of the Rock Alpine Garden, where he designed and oversaw the initial plantings of this extensive garden. Garden Design Magazine has rated this garden as the best public rock garden in North America. He has designed plantings for many of the gardens at DBG.
He introduced hundreds of native ornamentals from throughout the Western United States to general horticulture. He has taken five collecting trips to South Africa researching the high mountain and steppe flora there, as well as travels to the Andes, the Himalaya (from both Pakistan and China) as well as travels throughout much of Europe, the Caucasus and Turkey. Perhaps the best known of Panayoti’s introductions are the many showy hardy ice plants: several dozens of these are now available at garden centers across America and in other parts of the world.
“Panayoti will speak on Prickly Pears—a much undervalued and perhaps the best cacti for just about anyone. I cannot say how many people who visit my garden and see my “West Ridge” xeriscape with dozens of prickly pears and gaze in fascinated horror: How on earth do you weed these? I can hear their brain gears grinding “I thought I didn’t LIKE Opuntias but these are pretty nifty!”: the opuntias and opuntioids are not just the largest genus of cacti in the United States, it’s a fantastically diverse group undergoing great study currently as well as hybridization and commercialization. If you don’t already love Opuntia, I dare you to come to my talk: I’ll bet I’ll show you a few you won’t be able to resist!”
Time: 3:30p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting February 13, 2021 - Colin Walker: Exploring Euphorbias
Note New Start Time at 3:00pm!
Colin Walker is a retired biology lecturer who is currently an honorary researcher at the Open University, England. He now lives in Scotland with his wife Marjorie, where they enjoy nurturing a varied garden and a succulent plant collection housed in two greenhouses and a conservatory.
Colin’s research has focussed on the biodiversity and taxonomy of succulents, notably aloes and agaves. In 2011 he was co-author of Aloes – The Definitive Guide with Susan Carter, John Lavranos & Len Newton, published jointly by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Cactus & Succulent Society (BCSS).
Over the years Colin has had various roles in several societies. For 15 years he was co-editor, then editor, of Bradleya, the yearbook of the BCSS, equivalent to the CSSA’s Haseltonia. Currently he is in his 8thyear as BCSS President, alongside a new role for him as Chairman of the BCSS Research Committee.
Colin is in his element presenting at conferences both internationally and domestic, BCSS branch and zone meetings, as well as local gardening and natural history clubs. He gave two presentations at the Eastern C & S Convention in 2012 and will be presenting Exploring Euphorbias to us on Saturday, February 13th 2021.
Time: 3:00p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting March 13, 2021 - Rod Haenni: What Is New (and old) for Cold Tolerant Succulent Gardens
Rod will focus his presentation on new plants, new trends in cold tolerant succulent gardening and taking full advantage of microclimates to grow the widest possible number of interesting succulent species outdoors, including in a winter-wet climate. He will include many succulents that originate in wetter climates that should thrive in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
" I planted my first cold tolerant succulent garden in 1978 in Denver and my interests since then have increased geometrically. I have searched throughout the western U. S., South Africa, Patagonia and nurseries in Germany and Switzerland for new and rare succulents for my collections.
I have gardened on nearly one acre in Littleton, Colorado since 1991 and have substantial gardens featuring cold tolerant cacti and succulents. These gardens also include a rock and crevice garden and a recently established hardy mesemb garden where I continue to assemble both a seed-grown and nursery purchased collection of South African succulents that surprise me with their cold tolerance.
Our changing climate poses both challenges and opportunities. I can now grow plants in my gardens that would not have survived our winters of 20+ years ago. However, the milder winters seemed to have increased the rabbit populations enormously, requiring screening to prevent choice plants from being destroyed."
Time: 3:00p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting April 10, 2021 - Graham Charles: Gymnocalyciums
Graham Charles first started growing cacti and succulents at the age of 12 and joined the National Cactus and Succulent Society in 1962.
He qualified as a cactus judge in 1972 and soon after, began to assemble his collection of documented plants. His specific interest has always been South American cacti and he has written many articles about these plants that have been published in various journals. He is enthusiastic about practical conservation, reducing the demand for field collected plants by growing seedlings from documented seed and propagating plants with provenance already in culture.
He has made more than 20 visits to South America to study the plants in their natural habitat. For his contribution to the hobby, the CSSA made Graham a Fellow of their Society in 2005.
A short description of Graham’s talk on Gymnocalycium: After a brief overview of the history of the genus, I will show you the species I consider to be distinct both in habitat and cultivation, organized by their long-established seed groups. The plants inhabit diverse habitats, many in beautiful remote places in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. They make good subjects for your collection and I will explain the basics of successful cultivation.
Time: 3:00p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)
Via Zoom Meeting May 8, 2021 - Jeff Moore: Agaves!
On May 8, Jeff Moore will return to give us an eagle’s-eye view of agaves, previewing his forthcoming book, Agaves: species, cultivars, & hybrids (co-authored by agave expert and hybridizer Jeremy Spath of Hidden Agave Ranch in Escondido, California.)
Jeff is the owner/operator of Solana Succulents in Solana Beach near San Diego, author of 4 previous books on succulents, and has been a traveling speaker in support of his books and all things succulent, at least in pre-COVID times, when he visited us to speak on “Under the Spell of Succulents” in 2018.
The Zoom program will follow the flow of the new book, beginning with cultural issues, morphology, and history, followed by a tour of species, especially those available in cultivation, and a selection of hybrids, cultivars, and mangaves. Jeff is noted for the superb quality and variety of photographs – most of which he has taken himself – in his books and programs, and these will feature plants found both in habitat and in cultivation. Jeff’s enthusiasm for succulents of all types and for the people who find, grow, and fall under their spell promises a lively and entertaining program.
Jeff Moore’s previous books include Under the Spell of Succulents, Aloes and Agaves in Cultivation, Soft Succulents, and Spiny Succulents. His forthcoming book, Agaves: Species, Cultivars, & Hybrids, should be available by summer.
Bookmaster David Schultz of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Connecticut will be taking orders for Jeff’s new agave book when it becomes available. Price not yet determined. Please let him know if you’d like to preorder at dmschultzcactus@yahoo.com .
David has copies in stock of Under the Spell of Succulents at the special price of $22 including shipping, as well as Soft Succulents at $25 + shipping and Spiny Succulents at $28 plus shipping. Contact David at dmschultzcactus@yahoo.com to order.
Time: 3:00p-6:00p
Location: ZOOM Meeting (Details will be sent to all members)