Hey, Keith! I was there today...but I only had an hour to spend before heading back up into the hills. I'm pretty sure I saw you by the pots; but, after looking around, I couldn't find you again. The plants in the show were spectacular. It was also great to see some of your stagings in person. I took a few pics, though I haven't sorted them yet. Josh

Thanks for your good wishes Josiah and Keith. I'm sure it helped. For my first time in the Novice category, I did well. One of my Kelly Griffin hybrids won me Best Succulent Novice! I took home a nice pot as a prize (a good incentive to enter these shows). I also won some first and seconds as well. It was a lot of work, but a rewarding experience. I'm looking forward to being back next year. My entries (included in the gallery): Faucaria tubercoloa (first) Agave felipe otero (first) Elephantorrhiza madagascariensis (first) Euphorbia fianarantsoae (first) Euphorbia pseudoglobosa (first) Aloe hybrid (first & Best Succulent Novice) Opuntia serpentine crest (second) Zygosicyos tripartitus (second) Aloe inbityensis (second) Here is a link that might be useful: NorCal 2009 photos

Nice plants. I would certainly not like to repot the first one (Mammillaria magnifica). The single stem on the plant I once had caused enough trouble with those hooked spines that get stuck in everything.

We'll start with my plants. Out of the eleven I entered only one received no ribbon, everything else won either blue or red and the Monilaria awarded an outstanding specimen rosette. Astrophytum caput-medusae Monilaria moniliformis Conophytum periforme Tylecodon reticulata Pelargonium carnosum Pelargonium radicatum Tylecodon wallichii, paniculatus(hiding in the back) and atropurpureus Othonna cacaliodes