Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Anyone interested in growing cacti - or seeing some specimen plants - is welcome to come along to see us at the Cactus Show in Lydden Village Hall tomorrow:
Open to public 1.30 pm to 5pm. Refreshments. Tombola for Dover Branch funds.
A good selection of cacti at low prices will be for sale, some flowering.
For more details look at:
http://www.dover.bcss.org.uk---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Show open 1.30pm to 5pm SATURDAY 1 June.
Lydden Village Hall is behind the Lydden Bell pub, up the driveway, plenty of parking.
Advice given on cultivation, etc.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
As I recall, you have some stunners Kath. Good luck with it all.
If you have a cactus that can survive in the snow, this will get PhillipP at the head of the queue.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
I came back from Spain only 2 days ago with six cactus which I have just repoted and put in the sunhouse so yes I am going to try and get along to this show because I would like some more.Good timing on this one.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Excellent Vic!
Tom - there are one or two cacti which can survive in the snow, in high altitudes !
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
Vey good show I now have lots of them to grow on.+I was told alot about looking after them and won two prizes so all in all I had a good time.Thank you for puting the show on.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Thank you for coming to see us Vic. and for taking some plants home.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the cactus in my garden thrives in winter, can be covered in snow for weeks on end and is completely unaffected.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
They can survive if kept absolutely dry,it is the damp and cold which kills them.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Some of the plants in the show today:
Some members were on holiday but the plants exhibited were excellent, hopefully another display can be staged before long in Dover. The Dover Branch meets each month in Lydden village hall, on Saturday afternoons, OR in the summer we have two meetings held at members houses, visiting their collections.
More details see: Dover Branch BCSS website.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
impressive collection kath, thanks for posting the photos, will take a picture of my one tomorrow - survives any weather conditions with no protection and gets bigger by the year.
25 pence well spent.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Look forward to it Howard, do you know its name?
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
either you or ray identified it before kath, as you can see i have potted the original and replanted the "spin offs".
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
now the next problem!!
because they are so low on the ground, other plants dwarf them and hide them from view. a month or so back i was digging up a load of unwanted spanish bluebells and on the end of the fork were cactii.
in the photo above another problem in how to remove the weeds without damaging the cactii, finding it impossible.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Not a cactus, Howard, it is a hardy succulent, in fact an alpine, used to cold climates. But it needs PLENTY of SUN to grow properly and will not do well indoors. Needs a well drained place, gritty soil. Ideal for planting in containers with plenty of drainage. There are a lot of different species of this plant, and a lot of hybrids, can plant a whole sink or bowl full of them.
(If you want any more let us know!, we have a lot!)
Pictured below is the 'cobweb' houseleek, also hardy. Flowers are terminal, pink usually. This one is in a bowl with plenty of grit.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
Forgot to say they are all members of the SEMPERVIVUM group. (means live for ever).
SEMPERVIVUMS: The Emperor Charlemagne ordered every house roof in France be planted with these HOUSELEEKS, to protect from lightning. (You sometimes see them planted on roofs)
We had a friend who said her mother used them to charm away warts.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
thanks for info kath, it was originally sold as a house plant but it was clearly not doing well so i planted it outside. the flowers are very similar to the ones in your photo and die off very quickly.
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
Some lovely photos there.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
I have now got about 30 after last Saturday show and some are aready out in flower.
