There were three trade stands showcasing c&s this year - all Gold Medal winners. Here are Craig House Cacti: Craig House DT P1090157.jpg They displayed some nice specimens, Copiapoa barquitensis and Bowiea volubilis: Craig Copiapoa DT P1090159.jpg Craig Ho Bowiea DT P1090162.jpg More info: https...

I always liked shows to see the plants, but I never liked the competition side for prizes. Competitive shows play a major role in raising standards of horticulture. It is one of the very few ways that well-grown c&s can be highlighted to our members and the public. This makes a show much more e...

Nicely grown plants Tony! Here is a view of part of the rest of the display from Surreal Succulents (Gold Medal), who are doing their selection work based in Cornwall, so much warmer than the rest of the UK. Surreal Succulents DT P1090153.jpg Tuesday was wet and I'm surprised any of my photos were u...

I was also impressed by the × Semponiums exhibited by Surreal Succulents, first named in our CactusWorld journal in March 2020. They do appear a nice combination of the large leaf rosettes of Aeonium with the more compact inflorescences of Sempervivums and hopefully will not get too tall quickly. Se...

Seen today at Chelsea, in third place and featured on BBC2 this evening. Rather nice! Mangave Praying Hands Chelsea 2024 DT P1090156.jpg One of the MAD ABOUT MANGAVE® Collection, a hybrid with Agave ocahui apparently. See: https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/news/2024/plant-o...

And further to the at above, this poster provides basc advice:

https://ethicalcactus.com/

Derek Tribble

The following lengthy 1996 official document will answer this query in depth. I referenced it last year in CactusWorld in the note announcing the addition of Conophytum to CITES Appendix III. It really is worth reading! https://www.speciesplus.net/api/v1/documents/14637 Best wishes, Derek Tribble MS...

For many years, I have been using these sticky strips, cut into quarters, low down liberally mixed in with my plants because they will catch Western Flower Thrips. But many critters know to avoid them or escape - I don't recall ever seeing a spider, mealy bug, RSM, slug or snail caught. Best wishes,...

There are multiple little errors in the text quoted immediately above and one has to be careful which sites to believe on the Internet. Margrit's International Crassulaceae Network (ICN) is accurate as far as it goes. It was Helmut Toelken who uncovered by reference to herbarium sheets that Jacobsen...

I'm a bit puzzled that the Portulacaria pygmaea above is not larger if it was the specimen belonging to Tom Jenkins. As part of a collection class in the 1983 National Show, I photographed it and it does not look much bigger now after 40 years! However, I do find that my small specimen does have bra...