I made some new friends at the show.

Wendy, San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society Member. Wendy if you're reading this,

thanks for making my time at the show so memorable. I promise to help out and

volunteer at the next event (i'll try anyway) : )

Chuck, San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society and also with Rakes and Blades Gardening Club. - What a guy! Chuck's ability to deal with all of us cactus crazy people was truly amazing. I was invited to go with his group to Huntington Gardens and also Roger's Gardens the next time they do a field trip. Gee, such a tough decision for me!! lol.

Renowned and revered, Royalty in the Cacti & Succulent circles of the world, Mr. Wendell "Woody" Minnich. This man has to be a saint. Why? because he tolerated all my questions and opinions and gripes! Especially, my pet peeve with plants being incorrectly labeled!!! We spoke at length and I asked him if and when he was planning another excursion to Brazil and he said he was! Casually I let him know that I was rather strong and would make an excellent luggage carrier for him. He invited me to go with him and some colleagues! Just like that! Gee, an opportunity to see rare, and possibly endangered species of cacti in their native environment.with a master..i'm still deciding, lol. DUH. Well, I can dream! And, I did mention our GardenWeb forum to him so, we may just see him logged on one day!

Here's an article written about his very nice gentleman. (link below)

http://www.tucsoncactus.org/html/2008_November_meeting.html

Gosh that's an awfully big plant. I wonder who's it is? oh, I forgot, It's MINE...all MINE, MINE MINE!! To the right of it is The very strikingly beautiful Echeveria Cante and to the right of that is another beauty, a Kalanchoe orgyalis aka 'copper spoons.' Some golden/lemon/lime sedum Adolphi in the front (used for filler of course) and some very tiny aeoniums in the back, right. Well, they're microscopic compared to my "big bertha!"

My new little cactus, the Epithelantha micromermis, is smaller than my camera's memory card! In honor of our forum member "CooliceBall," I have named this cactus "DryIceBall."

Hi Neil thanks and your epithelantha micromermis looks great

How many succulents you bot

Neil
Nice to make new friends on top of getting so many beauties!
Howard (bikerdoc) has many echies (incl. Raindrops) and posted few times about trying to propagate from leaves. Try to search the forum.

Copper spoon has really beautiful color - even here, in Canada (it's been outside for only few days & it has been mostly cloudy):

Rina

They are all so beautiful! Makes me want to move to california!

Rina- I would like to propagate copper spoons too. I always try to choose a plant that has pups/offsets or extra rosettes for that reason and if not, I try to buy at least 2 or 3 extra ones : )

I could only buy 2 of the copper spoons as that's all they had left!

Coolice- about about 30 on Sat and 20 on Sun

Deva- That would be great. We could go plant shopping every day!!!

I never tried to propagate it and mine is tall, but only 2 stems that are pretty bare (like many kalanchoes). Here are notes I kept (from San Marcos Growers):

Kalanchoe orgyalis (Copper Spoons) - A much-branched slow growing shrub that can reach to 3-6 feet tall or taller with support but is more often seen as a smaller plant. It has spathulate ovate leaves that fold upward from the middle and are a bronze to gray color on the underside while the top side is felted with fine cinnamon colored hairs that eventually age to the same color as the lower surface. In the late winter to early spring appear the bright yellow flowers in terminal clusters at the branch tips. Plant in full sun along the coast to a light shade inland and is hardy to around 25 F. This plant is native to rocks and dry soils in southern and southwestern Madagascar. The name Kalanchoe is somewhat of a mystery - there is some thought that it comes from a phonetic transcription of the Chinese words 'Kalan Chauhuy' meaning "that which falls and grows", likely in reference to the plantlets that drop from many of the species but others believe it from the ancient Indian words 'kalanka' meaning "spot" or "rust" and 'chaya' meaning "glossy" in reference to the reddish glossy leaves of the Indian species K. laciniata. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek word 'orgya', a classical measure of the distance of about 6 feet, also called a fathom, which was the distance between the tips of the fingers when the arms extended. Likely this was in reference to the size of this plant.

Being kalanchoe, probably from leaves. Sadly, mine will never grow to 6feet tall...:-)

Rina

Thats alot :0

Nice! That's a lot of plants to buy in a weekend! :0

Robin

Do even have space for all them ???

they are very nice, and this is no reflection on you neil, but what's the point of buying big plants that are someone else's accomplishment?

i always buy the smallest i can find so that I have the satisfaction of growing them and see their entire life history-i dunno, maybe that's just me.

Rina- thanks for the detailed info. You must have remembered what a nerd I am, lol. Why won't yours grow??? I hope mine does.

Dave- no, you're right, It is a reflection on me. I do try to propagate and grow a lot of plants too, but I'm so drawn to certain ones that are already established and large and full and lush, I just can't help myself. I guess i'm shallow : (

I think you should buy whatever you like. It's your money. :)

not shallow, just different perspective.

Neil, loved the picture of all your purchases. They all look so healthy. You made excellent, make-you-happy purchases. Bravo, you! ;-)

I, also, bought a little Epithelantha micromermis at our c&s show here a month ago. It just moved outside so I'm hoping to make it happy enough to bloom next year. It was nice to see yours in bloom to know what to expect.

Thanks again for sharing your pictures.

Wow that is quite a haul! You're going to be busy for a while. :-)

Neil,
'cause I am in cold Canada, haha (not enough sun-need a greenhouse!!!)...on the other hand - who knows! I have euphorbia milii that is 50" tall right now - I have been planning on be-heading it for past 3 yrs, just have to get to it.

Rina

Neil what succulents did you get

Years ago someone gave me a cutting of K. orygalis and no one had ever heard of it before. Now I'm seeing them at the local nursery and you've got them down south so I guess it got into the tissue culture trade or something. Mine didn't survive so I was happy to be able to pick up another one!

Stonetreehouse- It's a great little cactus! I could not resist getting it. And, if i'm not mistaken the red tubes are not flowers, they're edible fruit! -------here's what Wikipedia.com said about our cactus:

Epithelantha micromeris is a button cactus in the genus Epithelantha. It is characterized by its white-grey spines growing on a globular shaped stem. The density of its white spines give it the illusion of being completely grey, making it very difficult to see the green color beneath. It grows to be 1-5 cm tall, and roughly 2-4 cm in diameter. E. micromeris produces small, pink-white flowers, often considered to be some of the smallest of the cacti. These flowers give way to a bright red, cylindrical fruit which contains several black seeds and also is edible.[1]

Daves- When I put a leaf down and it begins to root and form a plantlet..it sends me into orbit! I would so enjoy growing everything from seed if I could. I've tried a few times and was usually unsuccessful. Some of the seeds are no bigger than a grain of sand as I'm sure you know and I probably mis-handled them. I bought about a hundred seeds of silver falls dichondra from parkseeds this season and all I have are 2 sprouts : (

Andy- I have been busy now buying pots!!! I only bought one from the sale as they were rather pricy (for me). You bought so many!! I'm fortunate to have a rich friend like you <g>

Andy- Is your "copper spoons" ok now? is it as tall as Rina's?

Coolice- After this purchase I will have no space left at all for newer plants. I have enough room to do my usual propagation but, when those have grown up a little I usually find good homes for them. I don't mind giving what I've grown to anyone..as long as I feel they could take care of the plant properly. After all, these are living creatures...to be respected and protected as any other living creature. I know it's corny but it's how I feel.

Your not the only one who feels that way

I didn't expect blooms so soon from new cactus...Copiapoa tenuissima.

A real beauty.

They look like icing flowers on top of a cake! So pretty!

Labors of Love, Neil!

Thank you, thank you all, to my forum members and the Academy!