Haworthia pygmaea var. argento-maculata

We had a small turnout but an enjoyable gathering of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent society at our home yesterday. For those in the area, we missed you.
The weather has been amazing for this time of the year. While the rest of the country is suffering extreme cold and, in some cases, lots of snow, we're setting records for warmth. We got toe 64F yesterday and today, and expect the same again for tomorrow. And it's dry, with no rain projected for the next week. Of course, the usual bulbs are flowering like gangbusters, so I guess Spring is on its way.

The program yesterday was on Haworthias so it's appropriate that I share a photo of Haworthia pygmaea var. argento-maculata, grown from seed collected at Cooper's Station.

Echeveria globulosa

This is a very small Echeveria, but what an outstanding form. We've been doing an inventory of our echeverias and we're adding this one.
As for local news, the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society will be meeting this coming Sunday afternoon, 3 pm, at our house (7009 N Fiske Ave.). I'll be doing a program on haworthias, and all are welcome.

New "Cactus Chatter" now online

As the editor of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society newsletter this is a note to let people know that the latest newsletter is now available to download in pdf format here.

The cold weather is hanging on, record cold for this time of year. This is more like the weather we sometimes get in January.

Opuntia erinacea (syn. Opuntia polycantha var. erinacea) "Grizzly Bear Cactus"

I'm not usually much of an opuntia fan, but this is an exception: the Grizzly Bear or Porcupine cactus. I usually try to avoid common names, but this one is so appropriate!

We're busy making the final arrangements for the "Succulent Plant Fest" at the Stark Street Portland Nursery this weekend. If you're in the area you owe it to yourself to come by. And, of course, we'd love to see you.

Preparing for the Show and Sale

We're busy potting up plants for the Summer Show and Sale of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society. The sale is on July 18, 19 & 20 at the Portland Nursery, 5050 SE Stark St. in Portland. There will be three venders and there should be lots of succulent plants and a wide variety as well. If you're in Portland, we hope to see you there.
Also, there will be two nice specimen plants being raffled off. Entries will close on Sunday morning at 11:00 am and the winning tickets drawn. The winners will need to pick up their plants by 3:30 pm on Sunday.
I will also be leading a seminar on growing succulent plants at 11 am on Sunday.
Now all I have to do is get the car out of the shop so I have some wheels!!!

Gymnocalycium pflanzii var. lagunillasense

 Gymnocalyciums are real gems of the cactus world: easy to grow, easy to get to flower, and they make very nice specimens in a relatively short while.

 The variety name is no longer accepted by botanists. It's simply G. pflantzii. I just throw in that nice long variety name as a teaser. And it's fun.

For those of you in the Portland, Oregon area...hold those dates: July 18, 19 & 20. Those are the dates for the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society Summer Show and Sale. Check it out here, and I hope to see you there.

Enjoy your plants!

Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society Succulent Plant Fest

Our summer show and sale is scheduled for July 18, 19 & 20 at Portland Nursery, 5050 SE Stark St. in Portland. I design the flyers each year, usually 2.  The first one this year is this:

 

It's available as a pdf here.

Epiphyllum hybrid flowers

We have about 5 different hybrids blooming at this time. The first (above) is 'Pacesetter'. The second (below) is 'Sparkling Burgundy". With these blooming, it's hard to see anything else!

The Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society met at the Rare Plant Nursery for their annual open houae this afternoon. It was a beautiful day (the rain held off until tonight), and it's always fun to see the plants he is growing.

Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society Holiday Party

A local announcement: The December meeting of the OCSS is the Holiday Party being held this coming Saturday, December 15 at 2 pm. Location? -  7875 Blinkhorn Way, Gladstone, OR. Directions are a little complicated: Take I-5 south toward Salem. At exit 288, take the ramp right for I-205 toward Oregon City/West Linn. At exit 11, take the ramp right toward DMV/Gladstone and turn right onto 82nd Dr. Go about 1/2 mile, passing Ruhl's Honey, a spa place and a furniture consignment shop. Take a left on Strawberry Lane, which crosses back over the freeway. Strawberry is a small street and is hard to see. There is a turn lane and look for a low wall built by "The Wall" company on the NW corner where you turn. Take the left onto SE strawberry Ln. Go about 1/2 mile. Watch for "yellow, curve in the road, speed sign" which tells you to be on the lookout for SE Stanhelma Dr. and turn left. (If you pass a small park on the right or if you reach Webster, you have missed the turn to Stanhelma.) Go up the hill, bearing right. Turn right onto Blinkhorn Way. Destination is on the right side, a low, brown house, paver driveway, and a Pacific Northwest salmon on the door. Questions? Call 503-655-7038 or 503-913-7123. The society will provide baked ham and non-alcoholic drinks (if you wish to bring wine, that's OK). The rest of the meal is potluck. Hope to see you there.

Oregon Cactus and Succulent Society meeting

The next meeting of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent society is scheduled for this Sunday, October 7 at Rare Plant Research, the home of Burl Mostel. The address is 11900 South Criteser Road, Oregon City, OR. We'll gather at around 2 pm. Directions are here on Google maps. Anyone in the greater Portland area is invited to join us. (Please park near the greenhouses.)

OCSS Picnic and Open House

Tonight, just a reminder for those in the Portland area that we will be holding our Open House and Annual Picnic at our place on Sunday afternoon. You don' have to be a member of the cactus & succulent society to attend and we'll be open from 2 pm on, with the picnic beginning around 4:00. The meat dish will be provided by the society and the rest of the picnic is potluck. Please bring a dish to share.

The starter went out on the van today when I was away from the nursery, so I was unable to work on getting things ready for most of the afternoon while I waited for the starter to be replaced. And on Friday, we're going to the Oregon State Fair. So please forgive if everything isn't "spick and span." [For those translating from English: neat and tidy, all cleaned up.]

Hope to see some of you there. Ladybug will be here to great you.

Summer Show & Sale July 20-22

Our second show and sale of the Oregon Cactus and Succulent Society is coming up fast. This one will be at least twice the size of the last one, with a huge selection of plants. Plus, there will be an interesting Expo table of weird, but wonderful, succulent plants. Come and let your imagination run wild. This is the summer event where weird is not only permitted, it's encouraged! I'm talking about plants of course, but if you want to include yourself in that category, go for it!

The hours are 9-7 Friday and Saturday, and 9-4 on Sunday. Hope to see some of you there!!!

Oregon Cactus and Succulent Society May Meeting

No photos tonight. Just a note to members and friends of the OCSS: Our May meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, May 20. We will begin gathering at around 10:30 and eat lunch at around noon. This is a joint meeting with the Cascade Cactus and Succulent Society (Seattle area and Washington Sate). Locals are asked to bring a salad and the OCSS will provide the sandwich makings. Cascade will bring drinks and deserts. We will be meeting at the home of our president, 20126 SW Tenino Ct., Tualatin. See you there!

I couldn't resist. Here's another photo from Mexican Hat Nursery.

OCSS Show & Sale Update

I haven't had much free time for the last few days and so I haven't posted. The is just a not that the first show and sale of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society is scheduled for the Portland Nursery on Division Street, June 16 & 17. More information, including a downloadable flyer, is available at the OCSS web site.

OCSS Update

The Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society (OCSS) will hold it's next meeting at the regular meeting place, Sacred Heart Villa, 3911 SE Milwaukie Ave. in Portland, Thursday, April 19, at 7 pm. A guest speaker from the distributors of Black Gold potting mixes will present the main program. In the following photos new member Dee shows off her new club tee shirt and Mark, our new president, listens to ideas from some of the members.

Also, we can now announce our June and July Show/Sale dates: June 16 & 17 at the Portland Nursery East parking lot at the Division St. store, and July 20, 21 & 22 in the West Parking lot at the Portland Nursery on Stark St. In either case, we will be under the big awning.

Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society meeting announcement

The next meeting of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society (OCSS) will be this coming Thursday, March 15, at 7 pm. the meeting will be held at the Sacred Heart Villa, 3911 SE Milwaukee Ave., in Portland. The plants of the month are Aloes and Rhipsalis, Lipismium, etc.. Bring a plant to the brag table. It should be a great meeting - with refreshments of course!

We also have some other special announcements regarding upcoming programs and the June and July Sales (with un-judged show at the July sale). Start planning for that special plant you would like to show to the public.

I look forward to seeing some of you there. [And those of you in other countries, Portland has an outstanding international airport :-) ]

Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society meeting

Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society meeting announcement: the date and time have been changed for this month. Now scheduled for next Sunday, January 22, 3 pm. Please check this link for more details and directions to the meeting site. Thanks.

Cactus Chatter posted in Argentina Blog

Since I had included some photos from her wonderful blog (Cecicactus) in the December issue of the publication of the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society, I thought it only appropriate to send a copy to Ceci as thanks. Little did I know that she would post the entire newsletter on her blog. Thanks Ceci! You're a dear friend.

Mauna Loa, Etna and Culibra

I posted this header on our nursery site yesterday to announce a special. I don't usually tie the two together so much, but it really is a great deal. Echeveria 'Mauna Loa', E. 'Etna', and E. 'Culibra' are all on sale for less than half price. Some real lumpy, bumpy wierdness for the scary season.

But enough of the shameless commercialism. We've been really busy the last few days and things should slow down a bit this week. Took a nice 12 mile bike ride today but my bike had a flat, so it was only a 6 mile bike ride. The rest was walking.
And for those in the Portland area, check out the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society page for info on our next meeting this Thursday. We'll be auctioning off some very nice Hoya plants and the program will be on those scary monster cactus... See you there!

Echeveria 'Fred Ives' crest

We had our succulent society picnic here earlier today and it was a lot of fun, with about 20 people showing up. But of course I got so busy with other things that I forgot to get out the camera. So...no photos. It was really good to see so many of your here.

No people photos, but here's another Echeveria crest, this time Echeveria 'Fred Ives' crest.