Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society

Author: gerhard

  • Holiday dinner and gift exchange (December 15th)

    Holiday dinner and gift exchange (December 15th)

    Join us on Monday December 15th for our annual Holiday Dinner & Gift Exchange. Please note that this is on the THIRD MONDAY of December, NOT our typical 4th Monday.

    UPDATE: As of 12/8/25 the dinner is full. To get on the waitlist, email amie@vividroot.net. Amie will let you know if a spot opens up.

    Dinner

    This year the Club will provide dinner free to members, but guests will need to pay $20 each that night. Set-up and socializing will begin at 6:15 PM with dinner starting at 7 PM. The caterers will supply meat and vegetarian entrees, as well as simple treats for dessert. Having said that, if any of you want to share your special Christmas Holiday treats/desserts with us, we would love it! Show us your holiday baking skills!

    Gift Exchange

    For those who wish to participate in our fun, but optional, Gift Exchange, bring a loosely wrapped gift valued at about $10-$25. The less tape we have to cut off with knives, scissors and machetes, the better. Bags are great for wrapping. The gift (or gift card) can be cacti, succulent or garden themed. Hand crafted or home grown items work great. Gag gifts can sometimes work, but nothing inappropriate! It’s a family Holiday dinner, not a Las Vegas night out. Remember, children may be there! If you are going to participate in the gift giving exchange, you must bring a gift. If you choose not to bring a gift, you can still watch and laugh at the rest of us.

    Contest

    There will also be gifts given for most festive holiday attire and most over the top Christmas sweater. 1st and 2nd place. Show off your wildest outfits!

    Happy Holidays!

  • Next meeting, November 24: South African Bulbs: Propagation and Cultivation

    Next meeting, November 24: South African Bulbs: Propagation and Cultivation

    presented by Ernesto Sandoval

    Ernesto Sandoval has grown South African bulbs and geophytes for many years, both professionally and privately. He wants to share some of his experiences with this beautiful and diverse set of plants, particularly concerning propagation and cultivation. Mostly, through the use of gorgeous photos, he wants to convince us to grow more of these fascinating plants in our gardens with little effort (free winter rainfall) to bring a little more color into our gardens during the winter months!

    Ernesto Sandoval has been pondering and seeking answers to the question of why plants grow and look the way they do for nearly 40 years. He regularly lectures to various Western Garden Clubs throughout the year. Desert plants are his particular passion. He describes himself as a “Jose of All Plants, Master of None” and loves learning from the experiences and passions of others and his own.

    When he was about 13, he asked his dad why one tree was pruned a particular way and another tree another way. His dad answered bluntly, “Because that’s how you do it.” Since then he’s been learning and teaching himself the answers to those and many other questions by getting a degree at UC Davis in Botany and working from student weeder/waterer to Director over the last 30 years at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory. He is now a Graduate Student getting his Masters in Horticulture and Agronomy at UC Davis with a focus on the propagation and cultivation of drought-adapted plants.

    Ernesto will have bulbs from Barry Rice for sale, including Oxalis palmifrons, Nerine sarniensis, Ixia, Trachandra tortilis, Albuca spiralis, Lachenalia aloides var. quadricolor, Haemanthus coccineus and others, to name a few.

  • 2025 Elections for Board of Directors

    2025 Elections for Board of Directors

    We will conduct elections for next year’s SCSS Board of directors at our November meeting on November 24th. We will take nominations for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and four Directors. All of the current officers and Directors have agreed to be candidates again, but if any SCSS member would like to be considered, they can self-nominate or have a member nominate them. Please do not nominate someone without their approval. The elected Board will be installed at the December meeting so they can begin planning for 2026.

  • Next meeting, October 27: Big-Box Store Succulents

    Next meeting, October 27: Big-Box Store Succulents

    presented by Kyle Johnson and Gerhard Bock

    Want a climate-resilient, modern, water-wise succulent garden but don’t know where to start? Think you need to visit specialty nurseries to find plant material for your design? Think again!

    Join us for an inspiring presentation and learn how to create a stunning landscape using affordable and accessible succulents from your local big-box store. We’ll demystify the process from start to finish, showing you how to:

    • Choose the winners: Learn the secrets to spotting the best plants and which common varieties to look for.
    • Design like a pro: Discover simple design principles for combining colors, textures, and shapes to create eye-catching arrangements in pots or garden beds. Think rocks!
    • Be inspired: See inspiring examples of using big-box store succulents in the landscape.

    Whether you’re a beginner or a budget-savvy gardener, you’ll leave with the confidence and knowledge to turn a simple shopping cart of plants into a showstopping, low-maintenance garden display.

    SCSS members Kyle Johnson and Gerhard Bock have created spectacular succulent landscapes in their own gardens. Many plants are from low-cost sources like Lowe’s and The Home Depot. To see photos of both their gardens, visit Gerhard’s
    blog, Succulents and More    .

    Disclaimer: Although this talk is on big-box plant acquisition, we highly recommend starting at your local nurseries, where your dollars will stay local, supporting your community and neighbors. Additionally, local nursery folks can help guide you in your plant selection.

  • Mariel Dennis open garden, Oct 25, 2-6pm

    Mariel Dennis open garden, Oct 25, 2-6pm

    Mariel Dennis will open her garden to all club members on Saturday, October 25 (2 —6 PM),

    Address: 11842 Sandy Knoll Ct., Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

    The cooler weather and recent rains are bringing lots of things into bloom. The Halloween decorations will be in full swing, and for those that are here between 5 and 6 PM, you should see the solar lights come on and turn the garden into a fairyland! Halloween
    candy will also be available to get a head start on the spooky celebrations.

    Please pass along to friends and family if you wish to begin Halloween a little early. Halloween attire and/or costumes are also welcome.

    To give you an idea of what Mariel’s garden looks like, read this post on Succulents and More.

  • Gerhard Bock Open Garden, Sunday, Oct 19, 1-5pm

    Gerhard Bock Open Garden, Sunday, Oct 19, 1-5pm

    Gerhard Bock will open his Davis garden to SCSS members on Sunday, October 19 from 1 to 5pm. His garden is full of succulents like agaves, aloes, and cacti, combined with water-wise perennials and shrubs. The afternoon light is particularly beautiful at this time of year.

    If you’ve been to Gerhard’s garden before, you’ll notice many changes, including new succulent mounds in the backyard and updated beds in the front. To get a taste of what there is to see, visit Gerhard’s blog Succulents and More.

    If you’re interested in attending, email Gerhard for directions. Or, if you’ve been to Gerhard’s garden before, simply show up.

  • Next meeting, September 22: Country Store!

    Next meeting, September 22: Country Store!

    It’s September and the Country Store, our annual fundraiser, is just days away. Hopefully everyone has managed to set aside a few cacti, succulents, succulent-themed items and/or pots to donate.

    Doors will open at 6:00 PM for you to bring your donations. Please arrive by 6:45 PM to set out your donations, buy your tickets, and settle in for an exciting evening. The Country Store drawing will start at 7 PM.

    There will be four drawing categories for the donated items:

    1. Cacti
    2. Succulents
    3. Misc. succulent-themed items such as books, clothing, jewelry, etc.
    4. Pots

    Tickets will be 50 cents each. Each ticket has two parts. You keep one of the two and the other goes into one of the containers located at each category. You can enter as many tickets as you like in whichever categories you choose. If your ticket number is called, you get to pick whatever you want from the category that it was pulled from.

    BAKED GOODS will be a separate category. Instead of entering tickets and then waiting until your number is called, you’ll be able to buy treats with tickets throughout the night. Those of you who wish to donate food items can bake your own treats or purchase them. Either way, please wrap them in individual serving sizes (you decide the size) to be purchased with 50 cent tickets. A shout out to Hal and Troy who often bring home-baked treats to our monthly meetings!

    The SILENT AUCTION will have higher-value plants or special items-think planters, books, special pottery, jewelry, etc. Each item will have a bid sheet where you can add your name and your bid. All bids are visible, so there’s opportunity for spirited competition! Please bring cash (smaller bills, too, not just twenties) for the silent auction; in the past, winning bids ranged anywhere from $5 to $50.

    PRO TIPS (NEW MEMBERS PLEASE READ)

    1. Depending on how many tickets you buy, keeping track of your numbers can become a challenge. However, all you need to do is write down the number of the first and the last ticket. If a ticket between these two is called, it’s yours.
    2. If you’re more of a visual person, you can tape your ticket stubs to the back of a box or a piece of cardboard for easy reference. If you like this idea, bring cardboard and Scotch tape!
    3. Bring a box or bag for the items you win!

    NOTE: You do not have to donate to participate. If you do have donations, use your judgement on what to donate. Think healthy and pest free plants that some other members would be happy to own. If you have any questions, please call or text Bill McCabe at (916) 225-5974.

  • Next meeting, August 25: Caudiciforms 101 with Keith Taylor

    Next meeting, August 25: Caudiciforms 101 with Keith Taylor

    Caudiciforms 101 presented by Keith Taylor

    Keith will help educate us on the growth, care, and presentation of caudex-forming succulents. Keith is an expert at growing and staging these plants to look their best. Be ready with any questions you may have.

    Let’s add a bit of excitement to this meeting. Let’s also make it easier for Keith to answer your questions about the plant(s). Instead of trying to describe the condition of your plant with contorted facial expressions and wild hand gestures, why not just bring in the CAUDICIFORM PLANT that you have a question about? The condition and the size of the caudex does NOT matter. This presentation will be about how to grow a bigger and better caudex and how to stage it in the pot. Keith likes natural-looking pots, but you may prefer brightly colored pots. Hey, Keith’s easy going – he won’t hold it against you. He can still help you to improve the staging of the plant in the pot. Using our own plants as visual aids will help all of us.

    Yes, you can bring in more than one caudiciform! Keith will answer as many questions as possible and will look at as many plants as he can in his allotted time.

    Keith will bring in specimens from his collection and have pottery available for purchase.

    About Keith Taylor:

    Keith began collecting caudiciform succulents in 1991 after seeing a large Cyphostemma juttae in the ground at a local botanical garden. “I was drawn to size and grotesque shape of the trunk”. The Cyphostemma he saw is also the first succulent he purchased and still in his possession. His collection has swollen to more than 800 plants. He grows in plastic containers, raised and ground beds. Keith prefers his succulents to look like habitat specimens rather than cultivated plants. He grows them hard, meaning limited water, little to no feeding and hot sun.

    Keith sells his work at C&S clubs and shows, bonsai clubs, online through Facebook, Instagram, and his website. He accepts custom orders and ships worldwide.

    Meeting details:

    Date: Monday, August 25, 2025

    Doors open at 6:15 pm for plant sales and fellowship.

    Program begins at 7:00 pm.

    Shepard Garden & Arts Center
    3330 McKinley Blvd
    Sacramento, CA 95816

  • Save the date: Country Store on September 22, 2025

    Save the date: Country Store on September 22, 2025

    Why in the **** do we keep propagating more cacti & succulents? Why, so we can donate them to our annual Country Store!

    Do you need want more plants? Do you have way too many plants and want to get rid of some? We collect cacti and succulents—it’s what we do! But we are often conflicted between the need to reduce and the desire to add to our collections. Welcome to the Country Store where we try to solve this dilemma for you or at least make it easier to rationalize coming home with more plants.

    It’s time for Club members to start gathering donations of cacti, succulents, pots, and cacti and succulent themed items (books, clothing, pictures, jewelry, etc.) to bring to our annual Country Store on Monday, September 22, 2025. If you don’t have any extra plants, how about baking some sweet treats like cookies, brownies or cupcakes? A drawing will be held for donated
    items with tickets being sold before 7PM that night.

    Bring your donations in early (6:15) so we can get set up and you can see what’s available. There will be a silent auction where you can get great deals on higher valued cacti and succulents and other cacti and succulent related items. The Silent Auction has exploded over the last .couple of years with some amazing items being donated by our amazing Club members!

    Attending the Country Store is one of the great perks of being a Club member. You can add several new plants, inexpensively, that have been generously donated by other Club members. And on that note: To be successful, we need your donations! Please start setting aside the items you would like to donate. You do not want to miss this event. You do not have to donate items to participate! We will have more details at the August meeting.

    New members: If you are unable to attend the August meeting, but have questions about how the whole thing works, feel free to call or text Bill McCabe at 916-225-5974.

  • Next meeting, July 28: talk by Peter Beiersdorfer on looking for (formerly) lost Lithops species in Namibia

    Next meeting, July 28: talk by Peter Beiersdorfer on looking for (formerly) lost Lithops species in Namibia

    In search of (formerly) lost Lithops species by Peter Beiersdorfer

    A species is discovered, described, published, and seeds (and later plants) are distributed to botanical gardens and growers, yet within a few decades the species is lost. Surprisingly, this appears to happen frequently. The genus Lithops has multiple examples in which a valid species is never seen again, claimed to have never existed, or synonymized out of existence. For example, Lithops opalina was discovered in 1922, synonymized with another species in 1946, and then in 1973 said to have never existed as a species in nature and instead claimed to be a cultivar that was bred in the late 1950s and early 1960s. To finalize this transformation from species to man-made cultivar Lithops opalina was “officially” declared as a cultivar in 2013 — as if Lithops opalina had never existed in nature.

    To spice up the story of botanical malpractice, someone found a “new” species in the 1960s that was described to look mostly like Lithops opalina, and it was named Lithops eberlanzii var. aiaisensis. Luckily, the 1922 discoverer of Lithops opalina, Kurt Dinter, gave detailed descriptions of his research trips to what is now Namibia, and with some sleuthing we could recreate his trip through the southern Namibian desert. We found Lithops opalina exactly at the location where Dinter said he found and collected them, and we restored the taxon as Lithops eberlanzii var. opalina. By doing so, ironically, we relegated aiaisensis to synonymy. Since then we followed up by “rediscovering” Lithops summitatum, which had been subjected to a similar fate as L. opalina. By now we are convinced that there are about a dozen or so original species that were “lost” because of botanical malpractice, and we are working to get them back one at a time, including Lithops halenbergensis, the story of which is currently awaiting the Editor’s approval for publication in Haseltonia.

    About Peter Beiersdorfer:

    Following his retirement from paid research in physics Peter has switched to unpaid research in botany. Since the end of 2020 Peter has been spending about 9 weeks per year in Namibia searching for Lithops, although recently he also ventured to the Canaries. At his home in Livermore, Peter propagates plants from seeds and cuttings, including mesembs and bulbs from the winter rainfall areas of Southern Africa and many cactus species from South and North America.

    Peter will bring plants for sale.

    Meeting details:

    Date: Monday, July 28, 2025

    Doors open at 6:15 pm for plant sales and fellowship.

    Program begins at 7:00 pm.

    Shepard Garden & Arts Center
    3330 McKinley Blvd
    Sacramento, CA 95816