We are still working on the details of the 2012 schedule of events and field trips for the Central Ohio Cactus and Succulent Society, and await confirmations from speakers and other venues - our calendar of programs and events is always a work in progress, so we recommend that you re-visit often to get the latest updates and details, and as always, please contact Bruce Brethauer with any additional suggestions for places and events of interest. Some of these events may not be part of the "official" schedule for the Society, but are included as additional points of interest.
Unless stated otherwise, all of our meetings are open to the general public. We encourage visitors to attend and participate in our meetings. Our regular meetings at the Franklin Park Conservatory fall on Wednesday evenings when admission to the Conservatory is free - so if you are interested in learning more about growing cacti and other succulents, please feel free to join us. Special events and field trips to other sites may require pre-registration or an RSVP.
2012
Wednesday, March 21st
We will be meeting 7:30 pm Wednesday, at the Franklin Park Conservatory. Bruce Brethauer will present his PowerPoint program: "Conophytums: Succulent Gems", a program which details the distinctive traits and habits of this most attractive and unusual group of succulent plants, and will include extensive information on how to grow and propagate these plants.
April 13th, 14th, 15th
The Connecticut Cactus & Succulent Society is hosting the 17th Eastern Cactus & Succulent Conference from Friday through Sunday, April 13, 2012 - April 15, 2012. The conference is being held in conjunction with our
annual show & sale. This year the event will be held at the CoCo Key Water Resort and Hotel in Waterbury, CT.
Full details are on the club's web site at
http://ctcactusclub.com/EasternConference2012.aspx.
Note that the location for the conference is different than where the show/sale has been held in the past. The college could not accommodate the conference so both events are being held at CoCo Key Water Resort
and Hotel - only a couple of miles from the usual location.
CoCo Key has a code for a special room rate for this event that covers Thursday night through Sunday night. The block of rooms has been released already BUT that does not mean there aren't rooms available at the event rate. It just means that the rooms that were initially set aside for us have been returned to the general room pool.
I want to make sure that everyone understands that the annual show & ale is still free and includes everything it has always included - the fantastic judged cactus & succulent show and the vendor area with 19
vendors. And don't forget the free lectures and the auctions.
The 17th Eastern Cactus & Succulent Conference requires separate admission of $135.00 and includes lectures by world-renowned C&S experts. There will be a reception on Friday evening and a private advance opening of the vendor area. ONLY conference attendees may visit the vendor area on Friday evening. There is also a banquet on Saturday
night, for an additional fee, followed by the rare plant and book auction hosted by Jerry Barad. Rare plant and book auction proceeds benefit the Cactus & Succulent Society of America.
Please peruse our web site, http://ctcactusclub.com, for full details of both events. Informational flyers and registration forms are available there along with a vendor list. Items for sale at the rare plant and book auction will be updated from time to time as they become known.
Thanks,
Ken Mosher, conference treasurer
P.S. Please join us for the 17th Eastern Cactus & Succulent Conference!
See http://ctcactusclub.com//EasternConference2012.aspx as your primary reference along with supplemental documents.
Wednesday, April 18th 7:00 pm
We will be meeting at the the OSU Biological Sciences Greenhouse Facility located on 322 W 12th Avenue on top Parking Garage K on the main campus of The Ohio State University, Joan Leonard has generously agreed to lead a tour of the greenhouses, with a special visit to explore the succulent greenhouse. Following our tour of the greenhouses, George Keeney, Research Associate of the Department of Entomology will lead a tour through the Ohio State Department of Entomology's Insectary. The collection features a variety of living arthropods, and includes giant African millipedes, hissing Madagascan cockroaches, scorpions, tarantulas, black widow spiders and Australian walking stick insects and many others (the greenhouse will remain open for those persons who would rather not participate in the tour of the Insectary).
Saturday, May 5th
Keep May 5th open for the Kingwood Center's annual SPRING FESTIVAL. This total family event will feature activities for kids and adults alike. Our annual plant sale will offer a wide variety of both "common" and "exotic" plants. Vendors will be on hand providing many different items for sale. There will be games and activities for the kids. A morning lecture by plantsman Bill Hendricks titled "Anacampseros to Zebras: A South African Experience" will chronicle his three week experience investigating the plants and animals around the coastal area of Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope. Keep watching the website for more details.
Wednesday, May 16th 7:30 pm
We will be meeting 7:30 pm Wednesday, at the Franklin Park Conservatory. We will encourage members to bring in plants from their collections in an informal program of "Show and Tell", but the majority of this meeting will be to make last minute preparations for our show on May 19th and 20th.
Saturday and Sunday, May 19th and 20th
This is the weekend of our annual show and sale.
There will be a good selection of plants to choose from, including many unusual, and hard to find species, as well as some of the more familiar "standards". We offer plants of many sizes, from nice miniatures, suitable for creating your own dish garden, to larger plants, more suitable for larger pots and planters. We will also offer a few established dish gardens, featuring plants which are easy to grow, and adaptable to a wide variety of growing conditions. Other items may include cactus soil, pots, and decorative rocks. Members of the Society will be available to assist with sales, and to provide tips on how to grow these plants. All plants are in limited supply, so plan to come early for the best selection.
Show plants will include some larger, established plants grown by members of the Society as well as a selection of plants from the OSU Biological Sciences Greenhouse Facility.
Wednesday, June 20th
We will be meeting 7:30 pm Wednesday, June 20th at Franklin Park Conservatory. Joan Leonard will be presenting Amorphophallus titanum, the Giant Corpse Flower, a PowerPoint program and discussion of one of the plant kingdoms most remarkable plants. The Giant Corpse Flower produces the largest un-branched inflorescence - producing a "flower" which can exceed 10 feet tall, and 6 feet wide. The flowers actually generate heat, which is believed to assist in the dispersal of its distinctive aroma - which mimics the scent of rotting flesh - a scent which attracts carrion flies and beetles, which are the primary pollinators of these remarkable plants. The corms of this species are also the largest in the plant kingdom - the largest recorded specimen tipped the scales at over 200 lbs.
The native range of this remarkable species is rapidly disappearing, as forests are being cleared for timber and to produce additional farmlands. Today, many conservatories and universities have joined forces to assist in the propagation and dissemination of seeds produced on plants in cultivation to help preserve this species.
The program features "Woody" the first seed grown A. titanum to have flowered in Ohio. It flowered on April 23rd 2011, and was the culmination of about 10 years of patient cultivation by Joan Leonard and other staff members of the OSU Biological Sciences Greenhouse Facility.
Wednesday, August 15th
We will be meeting 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 17th at Franklin Park Conservatory. Bruce Brethauer will be presenting Fantastic Succulents for the Home, a PowerPoint program and discussion which will focus on those succulents (including cacti) which are easy to grow, and are more tolerant of lower light levels, making these plants more suited as houseplants than most other succulents. Some of the featured plants will include: Gasterias, Haworthias, Sansevierias, miniature Aloes, Rhipsalis (Mistletoe Cacti), Epiphyllum (Orchid Cacti), Schlumburkia (Christmas Cacti), and others. The program will also include basic guidelines on the "care and feeding" of cacti and other succulents.
Wednesday, November 16th
This month's program will feature Tom Winn and Ken Frieling of the Glasshouse Works, with a discussion of some of the more curious succulent plants from their collection. Tom and Ken maintain a remarkable inventory of rare and unusual tropical plants, cactus and other succulents, in addition to some very unusual and hard to find cultivars of bedding plants and hardy perennials. I will send them a list of plants which I believe will be of interest to Society members and guests, but I invite members to visit the website of the Glasshouse works at: http://www.glasshouseworks.com/ If you see anything which you want, email me at bbrethau@columbus.rr.com and I will forward the list to them prior to their visit.
This has always been an exceptional program which we look forward to every year. Guests and visitors are especially encouraged to attend this meeting - If you are interested in some unusual and interesting plants, and the curious tales of the people who grow them, please feel free to join us.
Wednesday, December 19th
We will be meeting 7:30 at the Franklin Park Conservatory This is the time of our annual winter potluck. Members are asked to bring a covered dinner or side-dish to share with other members and guests. This is an informal meeting, without a scheduled program, but will include elections for our officers for 2012, and a planning session for programs for 2011.