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San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society Show

June 2, 2013

Believe it or not, behind all the floral-themed fashion shoots, photos and artist interviews, there is someone who loves actual, root-in-soil plants. That’s right – I talk the talk and walk the walk. Aside from curating posts, I have a B.S. in Urban Horticulture, a full time job managing a retail nursery, care for a garden of my own and engage in lots of hardcore plant geekery.

This weekend, that included the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society’s summer plant show and sale. Having spent a great deal of time in Arizona, I am not the biggest fan of cacti and succulents. But I do have a soft spot for rare and unusual varieties, and collectors’ societies are the best place to not only see amazing specimens, but purchase them, as well. So I came, I saw, and I bought.

Small flowering cacti at the San Diego cactus show.
Everything was covered in horrible blue tarp. Who does the planning for these events?
Gymnocalycium with flowers at the San Diego cactus show.
An award-winning Gymnocalycium covered in fluorescent pink flower buds.
Euphorbia with pink veined leaves at the San Diego cactus show.
A beautiful, unidentified Euphorbia specimen with pink-veined leaves and chartreuse bracts. Decaryi?
Euphorbia obesa and San Diego cactus and succulent show.
Gorgeous clump of Euphorbia obesa.
Unusual Euphorbia at the San Diego Cactus show.
I was so excited, I forgot to write down the names of these plants. Whoops!

Considering that I made the mistake of going to the show with a large amount of cash, I think I did a decent job of restraining myself. The only real splurge here is the Hoodia gordonii – after seeing a huge specimen in flower, I have been dying to have one of my own. And for $20, this specimen couldn’t be any more perfect. It has lots of branches and not a single flaw. Here’s hoping I don’t kill it.

Hoodia, stapelia and other cacti purchased at the San Diego cactus show.

Aside from the Hoodia, I picked up an Ehinocereus rigidissimus, E. rubispinus, Mammillaria duwei, M. perezdelarosae and Huernia insigniflora. There were different aspects of each that I loved – their colors and spines, for the most part. I could have stayed there all afternoon: I think my general distaste for succulents might have been shaken. Great. Another entire genus of plants for me to lust over.

Bengal cat inspecting recent cactus haul.

When you have a bengal, of course, nothing ever really belongs to you. Especially your plants. And your dinner.

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3 Comments


Billy Welter
March 14, 2014 at 2:35 PM
Reply

BOY….THAT IS A GORGEOUS UNIDENTIFIED EUPHORBIA SPECIMEN WITH THE PINK VEINS AND CHARTREUSE FLOWERS!

IF SOMEONE EVER FINDS THE NAME OF IT AND IF ANY PLANTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE, i WOULD LOVE TO HEAR BACK.

HAPPY GROWING,

BILLY



    plantpropaganda
    March 21, 2014 at 5:34 PM
    Reply

    Hi, Billy! Thanks for the comment. Isn’t it lovely? While I don’t know the exact cultivar, I do know the species is Euphorbia decaryi. There are many beautiful, brightly-colored cultivars of this wonderful little plant!

Don
April 15, 2014 at 11:25 AM
Reply

actually that’s Euphorbia francoisii. A really great plant that’s hardy, doesn’t get too big. There are at least 3 major color forms.



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