July 2005 Desert Breeze Newsletter, Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society

8/8/2019 July 2005 Desert Breeze Newsletter, Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society

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Thursday, July 7, 20057:00 P.M.

TCSS BOARD Ernesto Sandoval of UC DavisOfficers

President: Richard WiedhopfIncorporating Succulents in the Garden

for Bold Year Round Interest"885-6367

Vice President: Vonn WatkinsSecretary: George Virtes

Treasurer: Gail VirtesErnesto will discuss succulents thatmerit a place in our gardens, usingexamples from gardens such as the RuthBancroft Garden, the Huntington

Botanical Gardens, Strybing Arboretum,as well as his own garden. Aloes,agaves, cacti and other succulentssuitable for mixed plantings will beemphasized using quality photographs.Although many people consider

succulents to be hard to grow and even dangerous, the authorhopes to convince us that not all succulents are difficult and thatthere are many which have little chance of causing pain andanguish in our gardens. Some less common, but not difficult togrow plants such as various Aloe and Agave species, and bulbs

such as Ornithogalum fimbrimarginatum and other low water useplants will be discussed.

Ernesto is curator, of the plant biology section of the biologicalgreenhouses at the University of California Davis. This will bean excellent presentation for everyone!

Thursday, August 4, 20057:00 P.M.

To be Announced: The August speaker has not been

finalized; check the web site for an announcement.

Board of Directors:Past-President: Vonn Watkins

Joe Frannea (2005)Marty Harow (2005)Peter Hubbell (2005)

Dan Birt (2006)Chris Monrad (2006)Mark Sitter (2006)

Norm Dennis (2007)Barry McCormick (2007)

Jack Ramsey (2007)CSSA Affiliate Rep: Helen Barber

Cactus Rescue: Chris MonradEducational: Joe Frannea

Free Plants: Norma Beckman

Librarian: Joie GiuntaPrograms: Vonn Watkins

Refreshments: Patsy FranneaSales: Jack Ramsey

Technology: Kevin Barber

Editor: Barry [email protected]

Deadline for copy:18th of each month

TCSS Web Page:www.tucsoncactus.org

Next MeetingThursday, July 7, 2005.

Junior League of Tucson2099 E. River Road

Tucson

July RefreshmentsThose with family names beginning with

N to S, please bring your choice ofrefreshment to the meeting.

Everyone is Welcome!Bring your friends, join in the fun,and meet the cactus and succulent

community.

July 2005

CaminoEscuela

River Road

Campell

St. PhillipsPlaza

Parking Junior League of TucsonKiva Bldg.

2099 E. River Road299-5753

Meeting Place


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Presidents Message

We are half way through

another great year for thesociety. I am overwhelmedwith the support we have forour programs and activities.Our current membership is 658members from 463 households.We are the largest local cactiand succulent society in the

world, and have a very strong financial base tosupport our activities. The most important asset, ofcourse, is our membership. Our volunteerism for

events, and our support of programs and activitiesis outstanding. We make this society work and it isall done with a smile. I have never seen so manyhappy people working so hard and having so muchfun! Thank you again for your support.

The Board of Directors and working committeesare working hard to provide more activities andopportunities. We should all be a part of thisprocess. Your input and efforts are alwaysappreciated.

Success does have some problems and one areaneeding improvement is the rescue program

holding facility. The larger volunteer rescue crewsare doing a great job in saving many more plants.In the near future we are going to need a morepermanent location for holding and maintainingrescued material. If you know of possible sites thatcould be donated, leased, purchased or acquired bysome means please let me know. We need at least

5,000 sq ft that can be secured, has vehicle access,and has water available.

This summer and fall we will have another round ofworkshops, a trip to the Wallace BotanicalGardens, Good Time Silent Auction, the BloomingBarrel Sale and the Pima County Country Fair.

You will get special notices in late July on how tosign up for these events. Dont forget that theCactus and Succulent Society of AmericaConvention is in Scottsdale, August 5-10. Even ifyou dont register you are still welcome to come tothe plant & convention sales areas at the ScottsdalePlaza Resort.

Sometime in the near future we will be hosting theconvention and you might want to get some ideasfor the future.

Finally, May 4-7, 2006 is Sonoran VI at theInnSuites Hotel. We need your input and help inplanning this event.

Thank you again for making this job so much fun.

Dick Wiedhopf, President

Rescue Crew Flexes Its Muscle!

A Special Cactus Rescue Crew operations washeld early Saturday morning on June 18. It was alittle beyond the norm and required some extra

muscle, ropes, and digging bars. TCSS was calledto help clear some Ocotillo and large Saguaros thatPathways Development could not use. Theproperty is a heavily laden Saguaro habitat locatednear the Catalina Highway and Snyder Road.

Rescued Plants Need Better Storage Location

Larger Than Our Ordinary Rescue!


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There were four eight-to-ten foot tall Saguaroswhich can weigh over 500 pounds each so a lot ofplanning and coordination was required as wellconstant reminders about working safely, which isalways our first priority. Saguaros are wrapped incarpet to protect their fragile skin and to make thecacti easier for the Crew to handle. South ismarked so they are replanted with the same sun

orientation to minimize sun burn. Feeder roots areusually within ten inches of the surface but thecenter tap root, which helps keep the Saguaro

upright, goes down much further. Normally we donot rescue cacti this large but this was too specialan opportunity to pass up. The area was alreadymostly bladed except for the Saguaros, so it waspossible to back a trailer or pick-up right up to the

larger Saguaros so they could be gently loweredinto the trailer. There were another dozen muchlarger Saguaros with arms that will be salvagedcommercially since special cactus moving truckswith cactus moving hoists are required.

There were also five smaller Saguaros in the three-to five-foot range which were much moremanageable and could be carried in a cactus slingby four people. The reward for the Cactus RescueCrew members for their sweat equity was theopportunity to purchase and take home one ofthese great specimens for their landscapes.

Keen eyed rescue crew members were able to findand dig a few baby saguaros and some limberbush,jatropha cardiophylla, plants that hadsurvived the initial blading. Treasure hunting isalways a bonus for crew members. The work wasall completed in three hours with no stuck vehiclesand no injuries!

Joe Frannea

Rescued Cacti Popular at Plant Sale

The Tucson Botanical Gardens held their annualWeird plant Sale June 10 and 11 with a dozenTucson area growers selling mostly cultivatedplants in the garden areas and Tucson Cactus andSucculent Society selling their rescued Barrels,Hedge Hogs and small Mammillaria outside in a

large area next to the parking lot.We sold about 250 cacti, bringingin almost $1,600, with TBGgetting a commission of about$400. This was a greatopportunity for the public tosupport local nurseries and our rescue programwhile supporting Tucson Botanical Garden, not tomention getting some great plants as well.

Its Not Pretty, But It Works!

TCSS was well represented with sixteen members

selling plants, giving planting tips, and answeringquestions about cactus and succulents in general.Our planting guides and society informationbrochures are always popular. A grateful thanks toall who helped.

Sales at Tucson Botanical Garden

Joe Frannea

Future Events

Thursday, September 15 will bethe first session of our FallWorkshop Series. Among thetopics being considered areanother general introductionsession, and sessions on

vegetative propagation and grafting. We weresomewhat surprised by the tremendous turnout forlast springs workshops, and are working toestablish a sign-up procedure that gives everybody achance to attend. There will be additionalinformation in August.


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Sunday, September 18 will beour Good Time SilentAuction. The event will be

from noon to 3:00 pm and is achance to socialize, make some

money for the society, and clear off your benchesbefore you have to button up for winter. Now is agood time to look around and decide what you can

donate. Perhaps a division or a propagation iscalled for, perhaps a larger pot would make theplant look its best in the Fall. Reserve the date;details to follow.

Our Tour Events Committee isfinalizing the arrangements for themuch-awaited trip to the WallaceDesert Gardens. This will be an

exclusive event for Tucson Cactusand Succulent Society members, held

on Sunday, November 6, 2005. There will be a busfor those who prefer to travel in comfort, but it willalso be possible to meet us there. The tour will befollowed by lunch at a nearby restaurant and thenwe will make a stop at the Arizona Cactus Nurseryin Chandler on our way home. The last time wetook a bus trip and stopped in Chandler we filled theluggage space on the bus with plant purchases.

Upcoming Schedule

July 7, 2005 General Meeting: ErnestoSandoval of UC Davis

August 4, 2005 General Meeting August 5-10, 2005 - Cactus and Succulent

Society of America convention in Scottsdale,Arizona.

September 15, 2005 First session of the FallWorkshop Series.

September 18, 2005 - Good Time SilentAuction II, 12:00 noon 3:00 pm. Junior

League of Tucson Kiva Bldg. 2099 E. RiverRoad. TCSS members only.

October 19, 2005 Second session of the FallWorkshop Series.

October 23 (9 am - 3 pm) Pima CountyCountry Fair at the Lew Sorensen School onTanque Verde road (east of Houghton). TCSSRescued plants will be sold.

November 6, 2005 Wallace Desert GardensTrip. Exclusive garden tour, lunch, and visitto Arizona Cactus Nursery.

November 17, 2005 Third session of the FallWorkshop Series.

December 11, 2005 Holiday Party.Library Update

Thanks to the boards approval, we have fivenew books in the library. Ivealso taken some books out ofstorage. Come by and checkthem out.

World Encyclopedia of Cacti & Succulents byMiles Anderson.

Succulents Health & Care by Kapitany/Shulz.

Cacti & Succulents by Lueberman.

Scorpions & Venomous Insects of the Southwestby Stoops/Martin.

Cacti & Succulents.

Ive sent e-mail to those whove signed up forthe library committee. If you areinterested in being on thecommittee and did not

receive and e-mail,please let meknow.

At the TechnologyCommittee

Meeting this month, we allpitched in and got off to a goodstart repairing and covering our books.The next step is to mark them with a bar code,bar code all of our badges, and inaugurate ournew checkout system due to be in place by theend of the summer.

Joie Guinta


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Books Grafting Seedlings

I have been asked to write a column now and thenabout what is happening in the book world on ourfavorite topics Cactus and Succulents. Thismonth I am providing some information on two newtitles that may be of interest to many of you.

About 10 years ago a friend brought me a seed podofHarrisia pomanensis and asked me to grow someplants of this large beautiful white flowered night-bloomer. This really got me started growing cactifrom seeds.

Coming out, at last, is a

new book on Sansevieria!For those of us interestedin this fascinating groupof plants there has reallybeen nothing for quite awhile. The only bookthat has been available

was Sansevieria Trifasciata varieties by B. JuanChahinian and it covered only a single highlyvariable species. Fortunately, this same author, whois one of the foremost authorities on Sansevieria and

is the current president of the InternationalSansevieria Society, has written a new bookcovering the entire genus. It includes chapters onhybrids, display, cultivation, propagation, a key tothe species and a complete list of Sansevieriaspecies with detailed descriptions and theirauthorities. If you have an interest in Sansevieria orjust want to learn more about this group you willwant to investigate this book.

These seeds germinated quickly and grew strong

and tall despite my mistreatment. They were easilypotted on and within a short time were a foot or twotall. Wow! growing cacti from seed is easy. Ishould have been doing this for years.

Wrong! I started growing other cacti but none wereas successful as the Harrisia. Extracting, cleaningand germinating cacti seeds didnt seem to be aproblem. But once they grew and filled the seedcontainer, growing them on seemed to be where mytechnique failed. I ran across an old article about

grafting young seedlings and thought: why not? Ihad never grafted but had watched Miles Andersonand Mike Ellis demonstrate grafting techniques

many times. I gave it atry.

I used a number ofseedlings of Harrisiasince they were handy.I had a batch ofunnamed seedlingsabout six months old to

play with. You can seefrom the pictures thatthe growth rate of agrafted seedling is veryenhanced. I plan toremove it from thegraft next spring andattempt to establish iton its own roots.

Seedlin Grafted on Stock

The second new book is on Aloes. There is also

very little available in print on these interestingplants. Currently in print is, The Guide to the Aloesof South Africa, a 2003 update of a book originallypublished in 1996, and The Aloes of Malawipublished in 2004. This year, however we have aterrific field guide to the Aloes of Namibia entitledAloes aristocrats of Namibian Flora. The 96-pagesoftbound book is loaded with terrific color picturesof the plants in habitat and useful information onlyon identification and culture. It will also be veryreasonably priced between $20 - $25 dollars andshould be available in the next month or so.

Seedlin After 6 Months Growth

This is a fun project that anyone can do.

Experiment! Enjoy!In future columns I will cover other new andinteresting books in detail and keep you up to dateon whats coming out, as well as provide someadvice on which books are good for specific needsand interests. If you have suggestions for topics forthis column or want more specific informationabout anything discussed please contact me at

Dick Wiedhopf

[email protected] Barber
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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TCSS Rescue Cacti for SaleLots & lots to choose from..

Barrels - from 2 to 14 diameter (about $1 per inch)Hedgehogs from 1 to 20 heads (about $1 per head)

TCSS Club Members receive a 15% discountCall Joe or Patsy if interested 575-7126

Photos by Joe & Patsy Frannea, Dick Wiedhopf Logo Artwork by Vonn Watkins

The Thirty-first Biennial Convention of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Americawill be held in Scottsdale at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Indian Bend and Scottsdale Roads, Friday-WednesdaAugust 5-10, 2005. It is a six-day convention for CSSA members from all over the world, featuring twenty-onspeakers from Europe, USA, and Africa. There will be workshops, plant sales, book sales, and field tripsdevoted to cacti and other succulents of the world.

Hosted by the Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society, an affiliate of the CSSA.

The plant and book sale is open to the general public with no admission charge. Hours will be 8:00 am to 5:00pm Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, August 6-7 and 9-10, 2005. There will be about 20 vendors exotic cactus and succulent plants and containers, and thousands of books devoted to cactus and other succulenplants from desert habitats. Cash, check, MasterCard, and VISA will be accepted. For further Information go

www.cssainc.org/convent.html

Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society7510 E. Rio Verde Rd.Tucson, AZ 85715-3537
http://www.cssainc.org/convent.htmlhttp://www.cssainc.org/convent.html


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Documents

July 2005 Desert Breeze Newsletter, Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society