hi there, Deb and I have joined on the recommendation from a Bristol branch member.
we dont have a vast collection of cacti but more into agaves and succulents. of course cacti do appear on the shelves as we find some just as interesting.
look forward to learning more and joining in with the plants we do have as im sure there are lots of spikey collectors about on here. off to have a look round now
regards, Darren and Deb
Last edited by redsquirrel on Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
thanks Diane,where abouts is kingston near? ie,major city?
we are very close to the severn estuary which we used to believe helped with our climate but not so convinced nowadays.
Debs passion is anything with spikes on the end and has a quite extensive collection of agaves coming on,i did buy her a nice trichocereus terscheckii for her birthday a couple of years ago which is still doing well outside.
there are a few opuntias kicking about here too amongst other little gems.
my true hobby is palms and yuccas although im tending to turn towards more hardy backbone plants than palms as they just dont cut these winters in a lot of cases. Yuccas are great though,providing you get the drainage right,you can almost gaurantee their safe journey through winter time.here is a yucca rostrata planted in the garden,has taken two years to properly re-root in a large pot and a year in the ground to settle down but is starting to look proper now. when surrounded by arid plants underneath,should create a nice south american feel in the front garden
Hi Darren & Deb and welcome,
I am in Wiltshire now but used to be a Bristol member so I am sure you will receive a warm welcome there.
We were originally only a matter of miles from you up to about 6 years ago & I know Nailsea fairly well, in fact I used to work for a company (twice !!) in the Court House, they are still there now I believe, above Bottelino's !!
Enjoy the forum and if I get to the Bristol Show on 28th May http://www.bcss.org.uk/events.php maybe we will get the chance to meet up , if not enjoy the forum there a lots of friendly & halpful people here.
hi Patricia,lucky you in your climes and hi Paul , you already know half of what i have here,truth be known,it was the likes of yours,Melissa scotts and Gary Wattons gardens that got us experimenting with these plants outside. a few years ago id have never risked things like ochagavias etc but now those would be spoiled if they came in. of course we all still suffer unexpected losses,but plants die anyway thats just a fact of life
we have been to meet Tony Irons in portishead,thats when we realised this was not just a forum for little fuzzy cacti. some of the plants he was growing were right up our street. We have also met Alan Phipps a couple of times and bought some nice agaves at his stalls at the local flower shows. the one they have here at clevedon is a must visit for us as you never know just what he might bring. funny thing is,we met Tony there too
Hi Darren, Kingston should really be called by its full title - Kingston-upon-Thames (The Royal Borough of) and is a large town in Surrey next to the Thames.
I also like Agaves, but the ones I'm into are the dwarf variegated (and often expensive!) forms.
to the forum - you'll find lots of interesting stuff here, and we are only too happy to help with any queries!
i know them well. used to frequent a lot in the 90's but tended to drink more than i ate