The Beaver Tale September 2011

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AGAVE EDITIONSeptember 2011

CSSSN.ORG


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September 2011Meeting: 2pm Sunday Sept. 11th, 2011

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

333 S. Valley View Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89107

CALENDAR

September 11th Presentation: Greg Starr from Tucson, AZOctober 9th Presentation: Woody Minnich from New Mexico

Please bring plants for the raffle!!!

AGAVE EDITION

Amazing Agave and Bountiful Barrels in Beautiful Baja

Come prepared for Greg Starrs mind blowing interpretation of

the fantastic peninsula we call Baja California. He will overwhelm you(as there are a lot of them) with his photos of

interesting cacti and succulents with a special

emphasis on amazing agaves and a feast of

ferocacti plus a few surprises. Greg will

incorporate the highlights of three recent

excursions to Baja California including a

whirlwind visit to Isla Cedros of the western

coast near mid-peninsula. Bring a hat,sunscreen and plenty of water for a trip not to

be missed.

Greg was recently featured in the In

Search of Growing Treasure article of May

Issue of Sunset Magazine. Greg has written a

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book of his own called Cool

Plants for Hot Garden. He is an

Agave expert exploring the

American southwest and much

of Mexico. Mr. Starr owns and

operates his own greenhouse

called Starr Nursery

( Starrnursery.com ). Greg has

introduced and supplied many

new species and hybrids that

impact the desert landscapes in our area.

Hunting With The Experts Part 1

In the fall of 2009, my longtime friend Scott Calhoun was visiting

Las Vegas to speak at Desert Green. Scott Calhoun is a very well known

Landscape author. He introduced me to Greg Starr on this trip and we

all had one thing in mindAgave utahensis forma eboispina. Greg and

Scott were interested in seeing the local Agave of Nevada. I showed

Peek-a-boo Canyon

By Donnie Barnett


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Scott several locations the day

before. All of us were interested in

going to the type locality of this

paticular species. The Type l

ocality is Peek-a-boo canyon in the

Desert National Wildlife Refuge

(DNWR). I had been given a great

tour of this area by Rick Holmes a

year or two before.

Greg, Scott and I set out early passing Corn Creek station and

heading up the Mormon Wells Road. We stopped a few places along

the way to look at a crested Cotton-top barrel and a red barrel wall.Our sights were on peek-a-boo canyon but first we had to drive thru

the second largest Joshua Tree forest in the world. After driving on the

very bumpy poor dirt road we reached the opening. We parked in a

wide spot and proceeded up the south exposure. Feet from the car we

found a unique swirly-spine agave. This is also the only location that

the whipples Cholla is found in Clark County, Nevada. After walking

around for about a hour Scott spotted the most amazing specimen of

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Utah Agave ive seen. It was

Impressive enough to be the

cover of this newsletter. The

limestone canyon held

thousands of specimens and

many amazing large claret cup

plants. Several interesting

perennials can also be found in

this area including Penstemon

petiolatus.

After spending several

hours in the area we headedback to highway 95. From here

we headed to Potosi Pass. This

is right near Mountain Springs

pass on the way to Pahrump.

We examined theAgave

utahenis in this area. Every

form ofAgave utahenis is found

here. From long to short spined plants and 3 inch to 3 foot largeblooming plants. At the end of the day we met our goals and it set up a

non-formal yearly hunting hike. I had the chance to go hiking with

some of the best in our profession and it was an amazing day.

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Its nearly time to elect officers for CSSSN again. The Bylawsrequire that a nominating committee be appointed prior to September

general meeting (Sept 11) to submit a slate of officers at the October

meeting. This year those officers to be elected are Vice President,Treasurer and Secretary.

If you are interested in being on the Nominating committee (3

members) or running for an office, please contact one of the Board

Members before the September meeting. The club appreciates your

willingness to help keep the organization active and relevant to

members.

2011 CSSSN Nominations and ElectionsBy Ramona Lesley

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October Presentation: Peru, From the Sea to The Sky

Woody Minnich will be

giving the October presentation.

He will be selling plants andgiving a slideshow presentation.

Dont miss this meeting October

9th at 2:00PM.


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Agave neomexicanaNew Mexicos Agave is a upper elevation plant

found in southern part of New Mexico. It can be

found in chihuahuan grasslands and in areas of

Pinon juniper woodlands within the elevations of3000-8000ft. Plants are very abundant in

Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The New

Mexico century plant has wide leaves similar to A.

parryi but has a greener color and black edged

margins. The flower spike can reach 16ft tall and

flowering is in late spring to early summer. Like

most Agave, it is Monocarpic and only flowers once

then dies. Plants are very tough taking full and filtered sun. The plant can reach 3ft x 3ft per head,

plants offset readily. The plants can tolerate down

to negative15F and snow is common throughout

much of its range. Plant hybridizes with Agave

lechuguilla to create Agave gracilipes.

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Photo credits: Rick Holmes

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Ricks Agave

(Agave holmesii)

Rick Holmes is a local club

member with a love of cactus

and succulents. He specializes in

photography as many of us

already know. Four yeas ago

when I joined the CSSSN he was

one of the first to take me

under his wing and show me

tips on shooting. The words of

where is your tripod and

Diffuser? will forever be

engraved in my brain. Rick has

done a lot for me over the

years and because of him my

photography has gotten a lot

better. Because of this I wanted

to share with you some of his

creations. Look carefully at

these Agave photos you cant

always trust your eyes when itcomes to Rick Holmes

Photography. If you would like

to see more of his photos check

out his website:

Rickholmesphotos.com

By Donnie Barnett

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Agave Information and Mail Order Nurserys

Agavaceae website is a good information website

Agavaceae.com

Mesa Gardens nursery is the supreme mail order nursery for cactus and succulents.

Mesagarden.com

Cactus Specialtieslives up to its name and always has good plants

Cactusspecialties.com

Santa Fe Greenhouses specializes in drought tolerant plants in the west.

Highcountrygardens.com

Starr Nursery is our September presenter.

Starrnursery.com

Plant Delights nursery out of North Carolina has a lot of unusual Agave

Plantdelights.com

Yuccado nursery out of Texas specializes in agavaceae

Yuccado.com

Intermountain Cactus from the Salt Lake Desert in Utah. Specialize in Opuntia but occasionally

have Agave

Intermountaincactus.com

Local Nurserys

Moon-Sun Cactus and Koi Nursery

6430 McGill Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89122

Moon-sunlandscapes.com

Cactus Joes Blue Diamond Nursery

12740 Blue Diamond Road, Las Vegas, NVCactusjoelasvegas.com

Las Vegas Springs Preserve

Spring and Fall Plant sales

300 S. Valley View Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

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Contact Information

President:

Donnie Barnett

[email protected]

Vice President:

Vicki [email protected]

Secretary:

Ramona Lesley [email protected]

Treasurer:

Phil [email protected]

Membership/website:

Jay [email protected]

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CSSSN.ORG

Documents

The Beaver Tale September 2011