Post your largest cactus!

[Patrick]

I think he should put in a box and send it to you for verification Tina

[NorfolkExotics]

That is ridiculous... And then when you consider that it lives quite happily in Essex as opposed to some inaccessible part of South America

Licespray, I got the pringlei 6 years ago from a nursery so I can't say how old it is for certain. They apparently grow slowly though so it is probably at least 10-12.

[Licespray]

Marvellous! What’s the species?

[Paul in Essex]

I could probably find enough cardboard in the loft to fashion a large enough box, it is getting the thing to the post office that would be the deal breaker.

Species - Trichocereus terscheckii. Approx 4.5m.

BTW the August edition of the RHS magazine The Garden is going to have a smallish article from me on growing cacti outdoors.

[Terry S.]

My August copy of The Garden arrived yesterday complete with Paul's very interesting article. Few of us try to create a succulent garden, particularly on the scale which Paul has done it. With the changing climate, it is going to be easier to grow many of these outdoors in the right conditions, although those cerei might need more staking with the threat of increasingly severe storms.

Even on Epsom Downs, I had pelargoniums survive outdoors last winter. This was quite fortunate because it provided me with propagation material when purchasing opportunities were reduced by lock-down.

I think the BCSS style of gardening does not appeal to many people because it tends to revolve around greenhouses, so Paul's approach could well inspire more people to get involved with succulents.

Well done Paul.

[Al Laius]

Terry, define the BCSS style of gardening. As you will have noticed if you read the Journal and eNews, we are moving with the times and featuring people who grow their C&S indoors, on windowsills and under grow lights.

Paul has quite particular microclimates (as well as climate) which make growing these plants outdoors easier for him, conditions which I couldn’t hope to replicate in the more humid south and south-west of Wales. However, the journal has featured quite regularly over the years the outdoor plantings (and how to do it) of David Quail (and a few others) in Yorkshire.

It’s all very well saying that our climate is getting warmer, and indeed milder winters have been the case over recent years but beware a sudden cold one (can’t recall, was it about 10-13 years ago) which would decimate most of any outdoor planting of C&S.

Cheers
Al

[Terry S.]

Hi Al, certainly CactusWorld has been trying to reflect the changing ways in which succulent plants are being grown; I was fascinated to proof-read the article on growing echeverias as house plants under lights, which will be in a future issue.

However, just go along to any branch meeting or show (when we can again!!!) and you will find that most of the people there are growing their plants under glass. Even the talks are focused on plants in the wild, warm-climate gardens, or grown in greenhouses in northern Europe, something reflected in the current series of Zoom presentations. Paul is the only person that I have heard give a talk about growing succulents in a UK garden.

[Paul in Essex]

Thanks Terry. I was pleased with the article, with the caveat that I had to use the RHS names, not the ones I would ordinarily choose. Nevertheless they left the article largely intact and I was able to say what I wanted to say.

I believe the willingness to grow C&S outside is a state of mind more than anything else. I came into the hobby as a gardener, actively and specifically looking for C&S I could try to grow outside, rather than a collector of C&S who is prepared to try a few. There is a gulf between these two attitudes but hopefully one that will shrink.

Certainly in the 'exotic gardening' world there are an increasing number of gardeners who want to 'try a few arids' in a sunny part of their garden, it is just that I have been doing it for longer, and on a larger scale, than most and in the 30 years or so that I have been growing outside there have been some punishing winters. 3 on the trot from December 2009 to spring 2012 were nasty and I had a lot of losses. By the same token, I had a lot of survivors, too (including the big Trichocereus), and I would think I am unlikely to experience a worse winter than those in my lifetime.

Al - there is a chap I know who has an 8ft Aloe 'Hercules' in his garden in Newport as well as an assortment of agaves and cycads. As I say, it is an attitude of mind.

[Tony R]

Great article and pictures, Paul.

[Paul in Essex]

Thanks Tony.