Potluck Program hosted by Linda & Maynard

Transcription

1 The Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society % Stephen Cooley, editor thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com Petroglyphs Photo by Linda Cooley Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei Volume 4 May 2001 Number 5 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY This Month's Program Potluck Program hosted by Linda & Maynard Monthly Meeting Tuesday, May 8 Maynard & Linda's at 6 PM Please note the change of time and place for this month's meeting! (details inside)

2 BCSS General Meeting: April 10, 2001 Volume 4 Number 5 May 2001 The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society (BCSS) of Bakersfield, California. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the times and places noted within. GUEST ARE ALWAYS WELCOME 2001 Officers President - Rob Skillin Vice-President - Lynn McDonald Treasurer - Maynard Moe Secretary - Bonnie East Editors - Stephen Cooley Linda Cooley 2001 Directors CSSA Representative - Bobby Williams Past President - Bruce Hargreaves President Rob Skillin opened the meeting with all the happenings going on now that it is Spring: the Larry Grammer Auction at Woody's, April 14, The Pot Sale and Spring Plant Sale at Woody's, April 21, The Monterey Bay Area C&SS Show & Sale April 28-29, The BCSS New York Mountains field trip, May 5-6, Jim Boehmke's Spring Sale, May 19, Larry Grammer Auction at Woody's (Part 2), May 26, Guy Wrinkle Auction, June 24, and the CSSA Convention and Show & Sale the end of June and beginning of July. Maynard filled us in on the particulars of the New York Mountains field trip -- it should be another great year for cactus and wildflower viewing! Steve Kiesling, who has moved to Sonora, has donated many plants to the club and a work party was discussed so that the plants could be moved to the Environmental Studies Area (ESA) at Cal State to be stored. Maynard mentioned that the ESA director was interested in creating a garden at the ESA and needs cacti and succulents. This would be an excellent opportunity for the club to help get a public succulent garden started. The annual Yard Sale (May 11-12) was discussed with the need for volunteers at the Friday sale stressed. The Sale will be at Rob and Terry's. Also, our 2nd annual BCSS Show & Sale (October 13-14) needs a publicity person. The treasurer reports that the club still is maintaining about $1,000 in the bank. The May meeting will be held at Maynard & Linda's house and will be a potluck - bring any food you would like to share as well as any slides and plants to show. The June program is scheduled to be about crassulas, with Norma Lewis from the Huntington Botanical Garden presenting the show. The April program was presented by Guy Wrinkle, "A Natural History Of Amazonian Peru." The main area of Peru we saw was the flatland along the Amazon river where all the locals live in houses on stilts because the water level can change as much as 40 feet. Travel is by boat. Guy's wonderful photographs 2001 Chairpersons Refreshments - Bill McDonald Historian - Bobby Williams Librarian - Bobby Williams Field Trips - Dan French Material in The Cactus Patch may be reprinted by non-profit organizations (unless such permission is expressly denied in a note accompanying the material) provided that the proper credit is given to the BCSS & the author and that one copy of the publication containing the reprinted material is sent to the editor. Reproduction in whole or part by any other organization without the permission of the BCSS editor is prohibited. Contact thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com 2 Scene from Little Petroglyph Canyon. Photo by Linda Cooley 3

3 illustrated the immense biodiversity of the area. Some of the many things we saw were: Slime mold and lots of fungi, root parasites that look like mushrooms, moss, ferns (including tree ferns and climbing ferns), cycads, orchids, Eucharis, a cocoa tree, palms, bromeliads, a Heliconia with a 6 foot inflorescence, flatworms, birds, butterflies, millipede, termite nest, tarantula, walking stick, mantids, grasshopper, ants, beetles, lots of frogs (including tadpoles living in bromeliads), lizards, turtles, snakes, tapir, anteater, sloth, cats, bats, and a capybara. As promised, there were no succulents but it was an extraordinary tour of a fascinating area. The meeting ended with the raffle -- Mylon and grandson Jordan were big winners tonight (as well as Bobby, as usual). We also celebrated Julia Skillin's 10th birthday! She also won a large Mammillaria decipiens at the raffle. BCSS Executive Board Meeting: April 24, 2001 The following officers and others met at Lynn and Bill's house: Rob, Lynn, Bonnie, Maynard, Bill and Linda. The agenda was as follows: 1. Trips: the New York Mountains overnight trip will be May 5-6. All members interested in attending, meet at Cima between 10:30 and 11:00 am on Saturday May Steve K's plants: Maynard has planned with the FACT director, David Germano, to go with several students and get the large plants and install them at the Environmental Studies Area at CSUB on Thursday, April Show and Sale: Lynn has agreed to help with Publicity again! Thanks! 4. Programs: The upcoming Potluck meeting will be discussed in another article in this issue. Other upcoming programs were discussed. 5. Yard Sale: There weren't many people who could help out on Friday, so the Friday portion of the sale was cancelled; it was also felt that perhaps another date would be better. More discussion at the meeting. 6. Treasurer's report: finances are holding steady at around $1225. The next Executive Meeting will be May 29th at Bonnie's. PLANT OF THE MONTH: The Garden at Maynard and Linda s A Conophytum bilobum growing in the ground in Maynard & Linda's yard. Photo by Maynard Be sure to check out all the nifty succulents that Linda & Maynard have in pots and in the ground. They have landscaped a portion of the backyard as a 'Cactus Mound' with a large variety of succulents and have incorporated succulents into other areas of the yard as well. As is the case with many others in our hobby, you can also find succulents in pots occupying just about every available space in the yard and patio. PROGRAM NOTES Potluck Program Hosted by Maynard Moe & Linda Cooley BDEFJGHKNOLPQRSUV The Al Fresco Potluck Program is planned for our upcoming meeting. If you want to participate in a Potluck dinner, bring your choice of eats and dinnerware to Maynard and Linda's at 6 pm. We will provide iced tea, soda (probably diet and reg cola-type stuff...) and water. If you want to imbibe something else, you are welcome to bring it along! At 7 pm we will have a potluck slide and photo viewing--the photos first, while it is still light and then the slides. PLEASE bring a few photos and/or slides to share. It would be nice if you could bring a chair--we have about 10...Please do not feel obligated to attend dinner--we will be happy to have you for the program and will probably even let you eat leftovers! P.S. The entire evening will be spent outside, so dress accordingly. We don't usually have a big mosquito problem, but you might want to bring some repellant. Maybe a flashlight... Succulents of South Africa, 2000 by Van Jaarsveld, E., Van Wyk, B.E. and Smith, G. Tafelberg Pub., Capetown. (Part of the SASOL Guide series) This is a fantastic book. For its small size it packs a lot of information (And I'm not just saying that because the authors are friends). It is basically a geographic guide with plants arranged by habitat and lots of color photos of plants in habitat. It also has wonderful color paintings of some genera. The explanation of succulents is good except for the overlap between the tuber & bulb category and the tuber category. Another minor criticism is the description of the Kalahari (Kgalagadi) as a desert at the beginning of the book. Later they more correctly define it as savanna. Also it is important to note that they class Aloes in the family Asphodelaceae whereas others (notably Kew) give them there own family. These are minor problems and the book is basically so great I read through it in one sitting. I am told it sells for R120 in South Africa. This is about $17 U.S. which is quite reasonable (even for a paperback) considering all the color. (It may run a little higher in the States due to shipping.) 5

4 Little Petroglyph Canyon text and pictures by James Parker At the Matarango Museum we previewed an excellent video presentation on the Little Petroglyph Canyon. From the museum parking lot we caravanned the 40+ miles to the Little Pitrograph parking lot. A guide map pointed out various noteworthy features along the way. Of particular interest was a magnificent Joshua Tree forest at Wild Horse Mesa but unfortunately no wild horses. After making use of the pit toilets we all gathered around a large rock with a panel of petroglyphs on one side, a brass dedication plaque on another, and a heap of horse dung directly in front marking territory explained one person; hatred for tourists, thought I. Having lost our appetite for lunch we broke up into two groups and trustingly followed the guides down into the canyon, one mile down and four miles up so says the guide. 6 We did not have to go far to notice petroglyphs, in fact, they were present the entire length of the canyon. The petroglyphs were either an etching of a physical thing found in nature or an abstract form. The abstractions were thought to be the recording of ones vision quests. As we pushed onward, the canyon walls became higher and the canyon floor steeper. It soon became necessary in some places to do some climbing. The guide pointed out that they would provide helicopter transportation for anyone injured or who could not make it back on foot. Not having the $6,000 to cover that expense our group took extra precautions to avoid injury. Without warning, we came to a high cliff where the canyon opened out into the desert. Having felt some sense of accomplishment, I looked for a shaded place to have lunch. After having feasted on canned sardines, canned peaches, and a bit-of-honey bar, I closed my eyes and sought out my own vision quest. I felt a sense of awe about the area where so many ancient travelers had preceded me down this canyon, leaving their strange markings on the canyon walls. Remembering the guides words to take only pictures, leave only footprints I crushed the empty cans and stuck them in my tote bag and headed back to the parking lot. In closing, I would just like to say that it was a trip worth taking and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys touching the past. 7

5 The Morale Hills A Letter From Bruce On Monday the 12 of March Queen Turner (head of the herbarium) and I set off in the rain for Mahalapye, a town 198 km North of Gaborone. We had been asked by the Land Board there to advise them on an area to the West to be developed for tourism. No one was available at the Land Board (though their letter said they would be there) so we just drove out to the Morale Hills and looked at plants. (Later we sent them a report telling them to build anywhere on the flat area, but preserve the hills. The first hill had the largest carrot trees I have ever seen. Then we climbed a tree with peculiar trees of Commiphora marlothii which had large lumps on the peeling yellow branches. next to them were the biggest trees of the Star chestnut (Sterculia rogersii) which I have ever seen. under one were some young plants of Corallocarpus bainesi (just barely starting their caudexes). Finally, we explored a fairly flat rock out crop which was covered in crawling vines of Talinum (these usually hang down from tall trees!). This fantastic area is important as the southern limit for a good many species (Not coincidentally, Mahalape is the first town in Botswana north of the Tropic of Capricorn - apparently the word tropical means something). The last week of March was spent in Gaborone attending some (all is not possible) of the song, dance, art and drama of the annual Maitisong Festival. The highlight came midweek with a show by Miriam Makeba. The festival concert with our Gaborone Singers (yes, they roped me in - short on tenors as usual), other choirs, soloists and an orchestra ended the Fest. I was exhausted and got home at midnight, but managed to stagger up for the monthly bird club walk which starts at 6:30 a.m. We went to the Phakalane Sewage Ponds which sometimes have flamingos (not this time). The highlight was an orange breasted finch. But that gets us into April and the trips to Francistown and Khutse Game Reserve which I'll cover later. An abstract drawing from Little Petroglyph Canyon. Photo by Linda Cooley. Succulent Survey April has seen my succulent garden change slowly from a bounty of winter growers to one that favors the summer growers. Actually, after a fit of growth in the Spring and early Summer, most of my summer growers take a siesta during the hottest months and resume their growth when it cools a bit. But right now, with the occasional daytime high temperature flirting with 90, my 'true' winter growers are starting to pack up their flowers, fold up their leaves, and head back home to dormancy (Dormancy is that quaint little town just this side of Death -- don't miss the turn off, if you go too far, you'll never find your way back). The Cheiridopsis in the garden are losing their robust look. Their leaves have lost some color and the seed capsules are fat and ready to dry off. Likewise, most of the small Conophytum have a nice paper covering over themselves and the older clumps are staying up a bit late before they too, turn in for the summer. Antimima, a miniature branching Mesemb, is also preparing to sheath its leaves. On the other hand, the Lithops are all displaying their bright new patterns and a Gibbaeum heathii, damaged by birds last year, has shed the tattered old leaves and replaced them with nice new ones. My Cyphostemma is sending out new leaves and all the Gymnocalycium have plumped up and started putting out buds. Spring has brought out the Echinopsis with my red, white, yellow, and pink ones already blooming. Another pink, an apricot, and one of unknown color are in full bud and will bloom in just a few days. I noticed one afternoon that I missed the first flower of the year on a Trichocereus candicans. It's white blooms are huge but only open at night and usually don't last longer than a day. There are more buds and I'm keeping a more attentive eye towards them. My Opuntia basilaris had only one flower this year and my Bakersfield Cacti are still mad at me for taking them out of the ground and potting them up (this is the second year they haven't bloomed - some cacti can really hold a grudge). As usual the overgrown Opuntia phaeacantha is loaded with buds. In the mesemb garden my 3 species of Juttadinteria are all displaying white flowers. Though not showy, they will continue to bloom off and on throughout the warm months. The yellow-flowered Trichodiadema decorum is starting to show off, and a Gibbaeum velutinum has a bright white flower -- it's first one. If you would like to share some of your garden happenings, let me known and I'll get it in the newsletter. Stephen Cooley More Petroglyphs. Photo by Linda Cooley 8 9

6 announcements The New York Mountains overnight trip will be May 5-6. All members interested in attending, meet at Cima between 10:30 and 11:00 am on Saturday May 5. The campground is in the mountains and should be somewhat cool. The portion of the trip at the lower elevations will most likely be somewhat "warm". You should plan to bring camping gear: the campground is somewhat primitive. It has pit toilets, picnic tables, probably fire rings. Bring your own wood. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower has been planned for your enjoyment! PLEASE MAKE THE FOLLOWING CORRECTIONS TO YOUR ROSTER! We apologize for leaving out Anne & Daniel Lee Please correct the address for Daniel French ThankYou Lynn & Bobbie for bringing the April treats! Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs $10 per year for an individual and $15 a year for a family. This extraordinarily reasonable price not only includes twelve issues of but entitles you to participate in club field trips to far-off (out-of-town) and exotic places (more exotic than Bakersfield). You will also receive a nifty name tag that will be your ticket to the members only plant raffle held every meeting featuring the best plant on the raffle table! All this is in addition to the wonderful programs and people at the meetings. To become a member contact: Maynard Moe, treasurer Lithops44@bak.rr.com CALENDAR May 8 BCSS meeting; 7:00 pm at Maynard & Linda's potluck program - bring your favorite slides and photos! May 12 BCSS yard sale! May San Jose C&SS Show & Sale: Buchser Middle School, 1111 Bellomy St., Santa Clara May Fresno C&SS Show and Sale. Manchester Center, Blackstone & Shields, Fresno May 26 Larry Grammer Plant Auction at Woody's Nursery part 2. May 29 BCSS Executive Board meeting at Bonnie East's house. June 2-3 Stockton C&SS Show & Sale. Sherwood Mall, 5380 Pacific, Stockton June 12 BCSS meeting; 7:00 pm Olive Drive Church program: Crassulas speaker: Norma Lewis of the Huntington Botanical Garden. June Northern California C&SS Show & Sale. San Mateo Expo Center, 2495 S. Delaware, San Mateo June 30-July 1 CSSA Show & Sale, Huntington Botanical Gardens July 1-6 CSSA Convention, Woodland Hills July 10 BCSS meeting; 7:00 pm Olive Drive Church Sept Monterey Bay Area C&SS Show & Sale, Jardins De San Juan, San Juan Bautista October BCSS 2nd Annual Show & Sale! Oct C&S Society of California Show & Sale. Lakeside Garden Center, Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue, Oakland. To have your article printed in get in touch with: Stephen Cooley, editor Linda Cooley, editor thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com BE SURE TO VISIT US AT 11

7 CACTUS & SUCCULENT SHOW and SALE at MANCHESTER CENTER (Blackstone & Shields) MAY 19 AND 20 SATURDAY 10:00 am - 5:00 pm SUNDAY 11:00 am - 4:00 pm by the FRESNO CACTUS and SUCCULENT SOCIETY