Open Gates - Gates Cactus & Succulent Society

Sweepstakes Winner
Plants of the Month
August
Cactus: Ariocarpus
Succulent: Aizoaceae
Speaker
Darryl, Tony and Buck
Vegetative
Propagation of
Succulent Plants
Save These Dates:
Sept. 4 Huntington
Symposium
October 2 – Gates
annual BBQ at Sims
Open Gates
A publication of the
Gates Cactus & Succulent Society
September 2010
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Still breathing with all this heat? Hope you've taken the heat into consideration both
for your watering the plants AND for yourself.
High heat and humidity is no fun for either, but the plants CAN be replaced. Did you
enjoy the Inter City Show and Sale? You didn't go?
That was the largest cactus and succulent show in the world, I believe.
If you're claiming the economy is so poor you can't afford new / more plants, the
round table this month on vegetative propagation will show you how to get new /
more / different / better plants for FREEEEE as the jingle goes. Snip a little piece here,
plant it, root and trade it: Couldn't be easier. Now, if we haven't thrown out all those
small pots....
The Board is trying to give our Program Chair some idea of what would be helpful or
interesting or even appropriately educational for next year’s programming. Buck
"came up" with last month's bonzai speaker who did an excellent presentation. Give
us all some help with your suggestions of topics or speakers or both.
Politicians can talk for hours without saying anything.
(1) I'm not a politician
(2) I ran out of things to say
(3) See you at the meeting
mjg
NEXT MEETING, WEDNESDAY, September 1 st
7:00 PM
AT THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MUSEUM
I- 10 AT CALIFORNIA STREET IN REDLANDS, CA.
President 951-235-6678 Mike Green Director 909-649-5571 Dan Griffith
e-mail: firelab@echinocereus.org Director 909-591-0280 Tony Marino
Vice President 909-783-2477 Don McGrew Director 909-875-3607 Rene Hernandez
Treasurer 951-369-7180 Karen Roholt Director 909-794-7130 Judy Horne
Secretary 909-794-3154 Line Marie Thrane Librarian 951-682-3795 Karen Fleisher
Past President 951-360-8802 Buck Hemenway Greeter 951-781-8205 Teresa Wassman
Membership 909-793-5395 Karen Roholt
Editor 909-793-5395 Joe Casey Leadership Team 2010

MINI‐SHOW RESULTS FOR Aug. 2010
Buck Hemenway judging
CACTI: Parodia (Notocactus)
INTERMEDIATE: small, 6” pot or less
1 st Don & Marie Alice Parodia scopa succinea
McGrew
2 nd Karen Roholt Parodia scopa succinea
INTERMEDIATE: LARGE, over 6" pot
1 st Don & Marie Alice Parodia leninghousii
McGrew
ADVANCED small, 6" pot or less
1 st Tony Marino Parodia buiningii
ADVANCED LARGE, over 6" pot
1 st Tony Marino Parodia magnifica
2 nd Dennis Kucera Parodia magnifica
3 rd Bob Laughlin Parodia magnifica
SUCCULENTS: Medusoid Euphorbias
NOVICE: small, 6” pot or less
2 nd Rene Hernandez Euphorbia flanaganii
INTERMEDIATE LARGE, over 6" pot
1 st Ann Reynolds Euphorbia flanaganii
2 nd Don & Marie Alice Euphorbia gorgonis
McGrew
ADVANCED small, 6" pot or less
1 st Bob Laughlin Euphorbia flanaganii
3 rd Bob Laughlin Euphorbia flanaganii
Mini – Show for September
Ariocarpus
Aizoaceae (no Lithops)
Thanks Ralph Massey! Our August
presentation was terrific we all learned
new techniques for staging and
displaying succulent plants.
Kitchen Duty for September 2010
Anh Lam
Merrill Barton
Thank you!
September PROGRAM
Vegetative Propagation of Succulent
Plants
The plan is for Darryl, Tony and Buck to set
up three demonstration tables. Darryl will
demonstrate various forms of propagating cacti
from cuttings and other methods. Tony will
demonstrate grafting of cacti. Buck will
demonstrate propagation of succulents.
Each table will seat about 1/3 of the
members in attendance. We will spend
approximately 20 minutes at each table. It should
be an entertaining and educational evening.
Welcome New Members!
David Hawks, Joined August 4.
Gates Annual Barbeque, Saturday, Oct. 2.
Once again, Gary and Sue Sims have
invited us to have our annual Barbeque and Pot
Luck at their wonderful property. This event is
always a terrific social gathering. The gardens at
the Tree Learning Center are exquisite. In
particular, the Joe Casey Cactus & Succulent
Garden houses many plants that have been in the
Sims family for decades. The last time I was
there, the crew was cleaning up a number of overgrown
plants and finding forgotten gems beneath.
The conservatory and the palm gardens are worth
exploring.
Plan to arrive anytime after 3:00. The
actual festivities will begin at about 5:00. The
Cactus cook-off tasting will start at 5 and the main
dinner will be served at about 5:30.
Here’s the Details
1. The club provides Chicken, Hot Dogs and
Hamburgers, soft drinks and water.
2. The members provide side dishes and
desserts.
3. We will have a tasting competition for
member prepared dishes using succulent
plants in preparation. Any member who
wishes to participate should bring a dish for
tasting. This is always the highlight of the
evening. Prizes are awarded. Everyone
tastes and votes. Yvonne is preparing the
Cactus Margaritas.
Sims Tree Learning Center, 6111 Appaloosa
Ave, Riverside, CA, 92509, 951-685-1158

PLANT of the MONTH
September 2010
Ariocarpus
The genus Ariocarpus is among the
strangest of the Cactaceae family of plants.
At first glance, the plants don’t look like
cacti at all. The elongated and sometimes
triangular shaped tubercles are unique to
this genus of 6 recognized species. They
are primarily spineless, using the ability to
draw themselves down in to the mud in dry
seasons to protect themselves from
browsing animals.
Ariocarpus grow primarily in the
Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas into
Mexico, as far south as Queretaro. They
are mainly geophytic, meaning that they
grow mainly below soil level. Most of them
develop large tap roots.
Ariocarpus grow as simple heads,
but some of the species will cluster and can
form large, beautiful clumps.
Most of them bloom in late summer,
to fall with white to yellow to magenta
colored flowers.
They need special care in cultivation.
They live in a habitat that gets nearly all of
its rain in summer from monsoonal flows
out of the Caribbean Sea. They grow in low
lying areas, but need nearly complete
drying of the soil before the next watering
for successful cultivation.
Care should be taken to water them
from the side or bottom water to prevent the
beautiful areole hair from becoming
discolored and matted.
Large, impressive Ariocarpus plants
are on display at most cactus and succulent
shows. They should not be missed.
Ariocarpus agavoides
Ariocarpus retusus
Ariocarpus fissuratus
Ariocarpus retusus crest

Azioaceae
What was that word? Think Mesembs
Azioaceae is the largest family of
succulent plants on earth with 136 genera
currently recognized, even though more
than 230 have been previously described.
They occur world-wide in the tropics and
sub-tropical semi desert environments. The
vast majority of species occur in southern
Africa, and primarily in the Succulent
Karoos of the west and southwest. The Ice
Plant is one of the most famous names of
Azioaceae plants. We can spot dozens of
species of them growing in freeway
medians, on our beaches and other places
where they have naturalized in California.
The plants of this genus are
extremely variable. From annuals such as
Doreanthus to woody perennial shrubs like
Ruschia to some of the smallest plants on
earth such as Oophytum, they are all
recognizable with their flashy blooms and
specialized seed capsules. The seed
capsules are the defining feature of this
genus. While there is some variance in
function and physical appearance, the
capsules have the ability to open when they
are wet and have the seeds expended from
them by force of the actual rain droplets.
They can then close up and ait for the next
rain, keeping their valuable stored treasure
safe to be germinated when conditions are
just right.
Many of them are extremely easy to
grow. We know that a large number of
species have naturalized in our Southern
California communities. The perennials
behave beautifully in the garden, right
alongside with our salvias, penstemons,
and other drought tolerant shrubs. The
very small oophytums and argyrodermas
can be a little more of a challenge, but
careful study of their habitat will help. The
midsized plants such as Gibbeaum,
Cheirodopsis, and dozens of others are
easy as long as they have excellent
drainage.
More varieties are available at the
various C&S sales throughout the year.
Please note that the Mini Show does
Not include Lithops.
Drosanthemum speciosum (our back yard)
Cephalophyllum alstonii (our back yard)
Oophytum and Argyroderma (South Africa)
Gibbeaum heathii (South Africa)
Buck Hemenway, September 2010

CALENDAR OF UP COMING EVENTS FOR 2010
SEPT. 4 HUNTINGTON BOTANICAL GARDENS SUCCULENT SYMPOSIUM ALL DAY AT THE HUNTINGTON Go to
www.huntington.org to sign up.
SEPT 26 LONG BEACH CACTUS CLUB ANNUAL PLANT AUCTION 18127 SOUTH ALAMEDA ST., RANCHO
DOMINGUEZ, CA----12 PM
NOV. 6 & 7 SAN GABRIEL VALLEY CACTUS AND SUCCULENT SOCIETY SHOW AND SALE---LA COUNTY ARBORETUM
ADDRESS ABOVE.
DEC. 3-5 ORANGE COUNTY CACTUS & SUCCULENT WINTER SHOW AND SALE . SALE: DEC.3,4 & 5. 10 AM TO 4 PM
EACH DAY. SHOW SAT. & SUN.10 AM TO 4 PM. FULLERON ARBORETUM, 1900 ASSOCIATED RD,
CONTACT VINCE BASTA 714-267-4329
2010 Gates C&SS Mini Show
September Ariocarpus Aizoaceae (No Lithops)
October Matucana, Submatucana, Oroya Stapeliads Dead Plant
November Auction
December Holiday Party
Visit the Gates Cactus & Succulent
Society at
www.gatescss.org

From: Gates Cactus & Succulent Society
5890 Grinnell Dr
Riverside, CA 92509
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