Spring is in full swing, and the weather is warming up quite nicely to go along with spring. Despite having multiple rainstorms over the last two to three months, enhanced by the “atmospheric river” effect, most of my plants did fairly well. They survived! I hope yours did too. Water restrictions may be relaxed but drought-tolerant plants are still vital to our dry environment. This is one rainy season for the books!
Springtime also means that there will be plenty of outdoor and garden events to be enjoyed. There are garden tours and flower shows all around. Check out your local community newspaper or online listing of events for information. The L.A. Times always has a weekly story/announcement on gardening of some sort. A listing of upcoming cactus and succulent events is on both our own website and on the CSSA website.
We are in hyperdrive mode to prepare for our cactus/succulent show and sale. We need your help! Everyone’s help! Please volunteer your time to set up and work during the two-day event. Any amount of time you can volunteer will go a long way to making the return of our full event a success. Sign-up time and information to volunteer will be available at the meeting. Please also save your cardboard boxes for the plant sale. You can contact me to arrange for pickups if you need help transporting the boxes. You may also bring them during setup day as well. Lunch and snacks will be provided for all volunteers during the show/sale. You are welcome to bring any food and dessert to share.
Since our annual show and sale is quickly approaching next month; hopefully, you are preparing your plants for showcasing at the show event. To further assist with your plant preparation, this month’s meeting would be a perfect time to have a talk on staging your plants. Our speaker, Karen Ostler, will share with everyone some tips and techniques to getting your plant presentation looking its best. We are fortunate to have Karen divulge some of her secrets and knowledge of professional plant staging. She is no stranger to having spectacular and immaculate plants winning top honors at multiple competitive shows for decades. Her work with the Inter-City plant show along with the many other volunteer judges, clerks, and club members have showcased, arguably, the best cactus and succulent plant show in the world.
Need I say more? Don’t miss this month’s live meeting.
Sincerely, Phuc
Gates Cactus and Succulent Society 