cactus world

[Stuart]

I can't look at the cover now without the seeing image of the teddy bear diving into a cactus!!

On the subject of cactus shops, there was one in Brighton a few years ago though I didn't see it. What was probably more interesting was the shop Chuck Hansen had in a Tucson Strip Mall, very few cacti but plenty of collectable Euphorbias. When I had a shop in Eastbourne for nearly 30 years, I had a few trays of cacti/succulents in the window throughout that time and they sold quite steadily throughout the year, anything with a flower would sell within a day or two but the challenge was to make sure that nothing was there for more than a week before going back to the greenhouse before they would show signs of weak growth. Looking at the photos of the London shop, plants on the shelves away from the window will soon show signs of etiolation if they're there for too long. I don't remember any new Brighton members joining because of the shop there but this new London shop can't do the hobby any harm.
Stuart

[David_K]

Hi,

I can remember visiting the cactus shop which cactusRogerUK refers to on Baker Street as a child. It would probably have been in the early 1960s, during a holiday in London, following a visit to the Planetarium. I remember it as a florist, with an extensive display of cacti and I bought one plant, which I still have today.

Best wishes,

I wish I could remember the name but it was a florist shop in the parade between the station and the Planetarium with a good reputation for a selection of cacti. I bought one of my first mammillarias there either in 1957 or 1958 can't be sure. I still have part of the same plant.

[cactusnick]

I too remember the cactus shop at Baker Street, London.
It was called Richelle, Baker Street Station, London NW1.
It was the subject of an article in a paper called "Britannia and Eve" for 1 May 1955 illustrating many of the cacti they sold.
I purchased a Lophophora williamsii from them in the 1960s and still have it today!
They not only had a full window of cacti, but also were general florists and sold other plants as well.
I used to visit Bill Stevens' cactus nursery at Westfield, near Hastings, which sadly has now closed.
Hope this helps.
I also used to visit the nursery of Arthur Jones at Normandy Surrey who sold many rare imported cacti.
Does anyone know anything about Edward V Bloom who wrote Collectors' Cacti. It would seem to be the only book he wrote and then disappeared off the cactus scene? Many of the photographs were taken at the above nursery of Arthur Jones.
Hope this helps.

Derek Nicholas (Brighton member)