Amazing, thanks for sharing, can't wait for the show season to start in NorCal

Beautiful. Kind of wish I hadn't looked. I want I want...

I entered a kirkii in our fair but they didn't like it much. It did have some blemishes but the darn things grow so slowly! That one above is a very nice one similar in size and weirdness of shape as mine.

Love that Astrophytum caput-medusae. One species that is short-lived for me, I have brought one to flowering, but it died shortly after.

Aloebot I always look forward to the pics from the SDCSS .always some nice plant pics. Glad you take the time to post for us.now if some of mine will start looking more like your pics

Aloebot, thank you so much for the pics of the show! And to think I could have attended years ago when our daughter lived nearby and I visited her. But I didn't have the collection or knowledge of C&S back then....

Laura, the S. kirkii are tougher than I thought. The owner said this one withstood a hail storm that really spotted up some of her other Sans.. It only put very tiny spots on this. This won best succulent in show.

Fly, Yours, mine, and probably this one were likely grown from seed produced by Jurgen. He grew these amazingly well and produced seed that was purchased by seed distributors even in Europe.

Willis, I put 3 caudex plant pictures in the mix. The E. hedyotoides is one from my small family I have grown. The Euphorbia cylindrifolia var. tuberifera is owned by a friend I have purchased many plants from over the years. The Dioscorea elephantipis has to be seen to be believed. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is 20% larger than a basketball.

Aloebot, Did you ask a lot of questions?

Like, what kind of mix they use? What conditions they are in?

It seems they might of been grown in a perfect controlled environment! They are so uniquely beautiful!!

Some I have never seen before! Thank you. Wish I has one of each)

Mike..

That poor Dioscorea looks like it needs a bigger pot!

Mike, I believe some of these growers have greenhouses or some kind of protection from the elements. Since the club is in San Diego, a lot of the members live locally and enjoy pretty benign weather. I can see pumice or perlite in some of the pots without a top dressing. One of the benefits of being in a club is being able to ask some of the vendor members mix and/or growing questions. Also, one can sometimes source out rarely available plants from other members' plant contacts. One other valuable aspect of membership is just the ability to sit and talk with people. That is something we take for granted when younger. It is harder to do as we get older.

Mesembs, maybe he is trying to limit its' growth before it takes over the world. It really is a monster in person.

Aloebot, thank you! You are right, you find out so much being with that crowd and can attain some rather strange and rare plants when if you were not a member you could not. Some day you will have tons of very rare hard to attain plants, watch. Good for you! I wish they had something like that locally.

MIke

Mike you and me both on wishing there where some good shows close ,sometimes living in the middle of nowhere isn't so appealing haha