The Cactus Patch. One man's junque is another's garden feature. November St Paul's Episcopal Church 6:30 PM. Election

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1 The Cactus Patch Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei Volume 18 November 2015 Number 11 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY This Month's Program Bring and Buy Euphorbia (Monodenium) elegans x E.torrei Fresno Club Brag St Paul's Episcopal Church 6:30 PM pollypearl@hotmail.com The Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society % Polly Hargreaves, editor One man's junque is another's garden feature Monthly Meeting Election Tuesday, November 10th of at 6:30 PM Officers Choose your place!

2 The Cactus Patch Volume 18 Number 11 November 2015 The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society of Bakersfield, California Meeting on November 10 Bring and Buy th Barter, Give Away or Abandon! Bring anything garden related to sell trade or give away; things like containers, tools, surplus plants, garden gnomes or anything else you want to be rid of that someone else might enjoy. Bring lots of tasty snacks as well! Election of Officers Both President and Secretary positions will fall vacant. Nominations will be accepted from the floor. th October Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs $20 per year for an individual and $25 a year for a family. Visit Us On the Web! CONTACT INF ORMATION President: Frank Drake pancho0831@yahoo.com Membership: Maynard Moe lmmoe44@gmail.com Newsletter: Polly Hargreaves pollypearl@hotmail.com Website: Stephen Cooley thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com ~2~ Bruce Hargreaves brought us up-to date on some of the international efforts being made to ensure that the diversity we enjoy all around us is not lost to future generations. Visit us on the Web! Facebook: ~3~

3 PRESIDENTS CORNER Well, here we go towards the end of the year. October was a busy month and November will also have plenty of activity. The clubs sale and show held October 10th and 11th was a huge success. Thanks to the hard work of many members the club had one of the largest sales ever. There was another bonus when several new members and potential members came to the clubs meeting October 13th as a direct result of being exposed to the club at the sale and show. We welcome those new members that joined and hope those that visited the meeting will also join. On a final note about the sale, I would like to thank Sidney Kelly and Paulette Drake for the countless hours they worked putting the sale and show together. There were many bumps along the way but they overcame numerous obstacles putting the sale together. Remember the November 10th meeting will be different. Members will be allowed to bring garden related items to be bought, sold, traded or given to other members. Bring your stuff and some snacks or just come to enjoy the fellowship. BRAG TABLE Jack Reynolds brought tubers of Amorphophallus conjac. He started with one small tuber and now has several. This member of the calla lily family is used for weight reduction. He also brought a blooming specimen of the plant of the month, Pachypodium saundersii. Polly Hargreaves brought a blooming Ceropegia radicans, but the bird cage flowers blend in with the leaves. Bruce brought two blooming offsets from Agave vilmaniana. These were from the flower stalk of a large plant! There will also be the election of officers for the 2016 year. There will currently be vacancies for the Secretary and President position. December 8th meeting will be a potluck and raffle for plants. We are looking for a volunteer(s) to decorate the tables. This is always a fun get together. There are no rules for what you bring to the potluck. We always seem to get a good variety of dishes. Frank Drake Paul Bowles brought a plant of Jatropha pelargonifolia. It made a beautiful Bonsai. It comes from Somalia, Eritrea, Arabia and Kenya. Sidney Kelly brought a plant of Stapelia scitula which she said has cute flowers. It certainly had lots of them and they were a beautiful dark red, but they still smell rotten. Working at the Cal State Garden ~4~ ~5~

4 The Kern County Fair Show and Sale at East Hills Mall Lots of room and lots for sale! Miles Musio at the K.C. Fair The Beach Boys entertained us Barry Manilow style because we weren't dancing! ~6~ ~7~

5 The Succulent Garden at Cal State Copiapoa hypogaea The Fair & Show, etc. A Letter From Bruce Nestled underneath a pink fairyduster (Calliandra eriophylla) in the Cal State Succulent Garden are two small cacti. Both are Copiapoa hypogaea, a dwarf cactus from coastal Chile. The picture above shows the two soon after planting. They are not fast growers and after six years, they aren't much bigger. They have bloomed, displaying the typical yellow flower of Copiapoa. Copiapoa hypogaea is native to the Atacama desert which is one of driest places on Earth. The picture to the right is one in habitat. Vegetation in this area benefit greatly from the nearby ocean which creates dripping fog. The ocean also moderates the climate, keeping daytime temperatures from getting scorching hot and night times that do not freeze. This is why they are planted under a shrub. It turns our hot sun into dappled shade and keeps the heat in during cold winter nights (so far they both have survived 20F!). Copiapoa hypogaea is an excellent potted plant. It stays small and if you resist the temptation to over water it, it will slowly grow into a nice clump. In cultivation in can take 'normal' cactus watering provided the soil drains well. Give it a very bright area and no frost. On the 23 of September we paid to see the KC Fair as we wanted to see the Beach Boys that evening. Although they included some newbies, they sounded like the original group. While we listened, a small plane flew over with lit advertising. Then a drone circled with flashing red and green lights. In the future they will have to regulate airspace over the fair! Polly s birthday was on the 29th but we began celebration on the 25th with a luncheon at Don Perico s for our exercise group. (Another woman also was celebrating hers.) On the 27th the family met for lunch at Cinco Limones and that evening we tried to see the beginning of the eclipse of the giant moon. It was too cloudy. At the time of the full eclipse the clouds parted, so we did get to see the full blood moon. On the 29th Polly had a free breakfast at Denny,s,Polly and I had dinner at the Saigon and on the 30th she had another free breakfast at Black Bear Diner. On 1st October we went to Fresno and heard Robert Scott, the treasurer, explain how to grow succulents. Yet more recipes, but he did suggest that not everything works in all cases. Not too bad for a last minute replacement speaker. On Friday the 2nd we celebrated Polly s birthday with her sisters. Also a library branch had a book sale as they are moving. For $5 we got a whole bag of books. ~8~ ~9~ Stephen Cooley

6 On Saturday we went up to Tejon School for the anniversary of the Ridge Route. Outside Tejon Indians were beating up a storm and inside there were exhibits including costumed people from Fort Tejon. I was interested to see stromatolites from the Ridge Route. These are fossil algae from ancient seas. On the 10th we took plants to the show and sale and Polly made herself useful sorting tags on purchases. It was great to see a real crowd and more vendors. The plants were outstanding, especially the three blooming Pachypodiums and the blooming Brighamia. My only criticism was on the garden ornaments. Guns with We don t dial 911 were a bit tasteless in view of recent shootings. Next day, of course, we were back and then took our plants home. I spoke on the Millennium Seed Bank on the 13th and Anne ran the brag table. There were some beautiful plants there. Bruce Hargreaves [Bruce's opinions are his own and are not necessarily that of the BCSS] ~10~ November 10th BCSS Meeting Bring & Buy Fun and sharing for all members Election of Officers Nov.: NO Board Meeting December 8th BCSS Meeting Family Potluck Dinner & Silent Auction Installation of Officers June 9, 10 and 11, Mid States Conference (MSC) Denver, Colorado Denver, What better place to be in the month of June! Visit us on the Web! Facebook: ~11~