I keep my 1000+ in about a third of my yard ... they are all pretty much small plants right now ... growing larger everyday ... i dont know if im gonna have enough room for themm all some day! One cereus i have grew like a foot already this year :P (multiple offsets) I like the WOW it gave me a good laugh :D ! I really like the euphorbia ... because it is a sunrise can it take less sun? What is a sunrise exactly? Thanks for the birthday hanzrobo, your too kind! If it does smell like pine sol (im going right now ) i will have it next to me always and i will be smelling it, always (i looovveeee the smell of pine sol)

Hi Howard, There were only 3 vendors there, Ted's being the one with the most goodies. I think one vendor was the actual Chicago C&S club, and I'm not sure who the other one was. He had some "catalogs" from Miles2Go, but he said he was not representing them. Ted's had more non-cacti succulents this year than cacti; usually he has a nice even mix. The C&S club had a miniscule amount compared to Ted's, and the other guy had a handful of plants and some cuttings of cold-hardy cactus. This is the 3rd year I've gone, and this was the least exciting of the 3. There are always plenty of people shopping, but the entire event seemed smaller this year. The show is listed on the events calendar of the Chicago Botanic Gardens website and is in mid to late July every year. While the show isn't necessarily huge (as I assume the San Diego show is), the gardens ARE and even though I've been three times, I've never seen the whole place. I don't think I've even seen half of it! I have a few pictures of the show plants at the facebook page for the Wisconsin Cactus and Succulent Society. Here is a link that might be useful: Chicago Botanic Gardens

The selection weren't wild as compared to my colorful visits to the farmers market, and the prices were on the steeper side generally speaking. Though all proceeds goes to the garden and afterall it's still for a good cause. Other than that, I have other destinations that stands on the top of my list to visit. This was my selection during the initial craze, but for some reason after analyzing my impulse, I just put them all back. Including the orchid! Figured I couldn't give the care it deserves. More other plants coming up..

lol @cactusmcharris! That is one of his favorite t-shirts, and he is always getting compliments on it! He got it at Target a few months ago. Maybe you can still find it? Maybe online? And that was the first plant I ever heard him say "I really like this one" about. He responds positively when I show him plants, but this was so independent, I got a little excited that maybe I could bring him over to the dark side. :-)