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The club’s August meeting will feature a program by Paul Heiple on Lithops, Conophytums and other Mesembs.
Mesembs have a reputation for being difficult plants. This is not a deserved reputation. If cared for properly, these plants can live for decades and flower year after year. They are easy from seed, take little room and seem to be endlessly variable.
The way to keep them happy is to know the seasonality of the rainfall where they grow and the type of soil in which they like to grow. Come see how wonderful these plants are, and how to have success in growing them, from someone who has grown them for nearly thirty years.
Paul Heiple is a naturalist, interested in all aspects of science and the natural world. His interest in plants goes back as far as he can remember, watching pumpkins and other plants grow in a family garden and houseplants such as his mother’s collection of African violets. The interest in succulents began with a trip to Arizona as a geology student to look at copper mines. On that trip he bought his first cactus. The Mesembs came later as the geologist began to collect plants that mimic stones. Most of the plants in his collection were grown from seed, and some are approaching thirty years of age. He has been a member of the Colorado, Maryland and now San Francisco societies, growing plants in a wide variety of locations.
Featured grower: Our featured grower for August will be club member Tom Vincze. Tom sold plants at the club’s show and sale in June, and at the Norcal show and sale in July. He had some beautiful Kelly Griffin dwarf Aloe hybrids which attracted attention, and he promises to bring some of these to our meeting.
Show and Tell: The show-and-tell table will feature Mesembs for succulents, and Parodia & Notocactus for cacti. As usual, members are encouraged to bring in anything which is looking good enough to show off, even if it is not in the categories given |
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