Dave, I'm sure the Society would like you as a member and a vendor - there's certainly a place for someone selling succulent-garden starter plants that are grown well and bug-free. It's interesting that you also are growing Cistanthe guadalupensis - that's a great plant for the SouCal growing area and is underrepresented in San Diego gardens (Bonus! - Cistanthe-member plants are commonly known as 'pussypaws'). Coincidentally enough, there was a show last night on folks who dive with sharks - one of the best places to see great white sharks is off Guadalupe Island, which is where C.g. comes from (it and a few islets). They were diving from a boat, so my posting here is coming full-circle with your most-recent picture. Speaking of pictures, if you're judiciously posting off-topic pics (and large ones at that), you might want to put just a thumbnail up in the post, rather than the whole picture. Some folks here are on dial-up.

Thanks tj, hanzrobo, and roro! It was a gorgeous day to spend in San Diego. Wish you all were there to share it with but alas pictures will have to do this time. Hanz...one of these days we will get you to a show. I think you would have a blast AND be broke, yes. The Central Coast Show is coming up in San Luis Obispo. Perhpaps? Roro - Jordy did have some entries even though he helped judged. I think that he just excludes himself from those classes for the judging time. Kelly Griffin was the main judge for the show. It was fun listening to the thought process of the judges. They were carrying around a mic to talk to the crowd as they judged. Yes, the size of some of the specimens were astounding! Are these the ones you were thinking of? Yes... Echeveria 'Ebony'

Xuan, I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the show and sale. We have it every year at the same time (4th weekend in July) so if you get back this way again come and see us. If you come back in a different month send me an email and I'll let you know what other C&S sales are going on. We have nine C&S societies here in Northern California, and there are shows/sales almost every month from April through October. Now I know what you meant about changing the soil. I have purchased plants from certain vendors before and if I didn't change the soil they would die. It had nothing to do with the quality of the vendor's soil; it had everything to do with the differences (however slight) in our climates. Since you're taking the plants back to Vietnam I would repot when I got home. This is because of your high humidity if nothing else. I would add more rock, perlite or pumice to the mix. I would also NOT move the plants into terra cotta pots since the plastic pots dry out faster and that's what you want, especially for Vietnam. Once you've learned how to grow them in your climate you could adjust the pots and/or soil to that which works best for you. I think you will find that you WILL have to water on occasion. Also, many succulents like having filtered light; others need to stay out of the afternoon sun. I don't know where you're staying, but there are a couple of places in Berkeley where you can buy more succulents - The Dry Garden on Shattuck Avenue and the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden on Centennial Drive (http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/). Of course our home improvement stores also have succulents at reasonable prices although many times they don't have names on them. If there's a Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com) or a Lowe's (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=home) near where you're staying you could check them out too. Good luck, and have a very safe trip home! Marilyn

Hi defrost…another early bird. :-) I'm adding to my houseplant collection this winter, which is pretty depleted. Some winters, I just have no interest, but this year I do, probably because this summer my garden time was minimal. Right now, I have some succulents that need repotting and I'm looking for decorative, ceramic probably. I'm going to try to find some shallow pots in a small to medium size for now. I have larger ceramic pots, but they seem like the wrong shape and size. By the way, if anyone knows who sells the best houseplants, besides Logee's in CT, because I haven't got time to take a trip there. I usually end up at Russell's and I stay away from Mahoney's, so I'm looking for somewhere new to try.