BCSS Birmingham

Rio Neuquen, Patagonia / by Mariano Mantel on Flickr (CC)

The 2016 branch programme of events is now online – as it happens, this year we will be looking at mesembs in particular, but hopefully the programme holds something of interest for everyone: Nurseryman Tony Irons will be sharing his knowledge and experiences of raising cacti and succulents from seed, whilst Kathy and Keith Flannagan are going to introduce us to a fascinating group of North American cacti: Coryphantha. We expect a welcome return to Paul Klaassen with a travelogue of his most recent trip to Chile (and a previous one to Patagonia). And Roy Earle will tell us about finding living stones (Lithops) in habitat.

As before, we meet every third Tuesday evening of the month at Winterbourne. We hope to see you there! The first meeting of the year is on Baja California this coming Tuesday, 19 January.

Coryphantha robustispina var. scheeri, Alkali Lakes ACEC, northeast of Dell City, Otero County, New Mexico, 21 Jul 2014 / by Patrick Alexander on Flickr CC

Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California / by Rebeca Anchondo on Flickr

We will be looking at the cactus and succulents of Baja California, by way of a slide show from the BCSS library. The slides were taken by Harold Crane during a trip in the 1960s; the script is by Frank Horwood.

The Baja peninsula of Mexico is home to a great many species of cacti and other succulents, which are well documented in a recent BCSS publication by John Pilbeam. It can be purchased here.

We will meet as usual on the third Tuesday of each month in the horticultural training centre of Winterbourne House and Gardens, Edgbaston Park Road, on the main University of Birmingham campus. This is from 7pm for a 7.30 start. The January meeting is on 19 January 2016.

Cactus sillouette, blue sky and clouds, desert hills, twilight, outside La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico / by Wonderlane on Flickr

Thelocactus sausseri seedlings / by Dornenwolf on Flickr CC

We will publish the complete schedule of events for next year in due course. You can look forward to an expert’s guide to raising cacti and other succulents from seed (nurseryman Tony Irons will be with us), a number of talks on mesembs such as Lithops and their habitats, a report by Paul Klaassen on his travels through Chile, and an in-depth look at plants from the genus Coryphantha.

We hope there is something for everyone in next year’s programme of talks. As always, we are keen to hear your views on the schedule of talks, and if you have any requests for speakers or topics do let the Committee know so that we can accommodate this for future programmes.

Please be aware that currently branch email addresses are not working as they should. We hope to fix the issue in due course.

At the last committee meeting it was decided to drop the Annual Show from our schedule of branch events. The May exhibitions tend to clash with other cactus events in the region, but we will continue with the Autumn Show – do bring your favourite plants along on Sunday 4 October, and don’t forget we have regular table shows at our meetings as well.