British Cactus and Succulent Society Cambridge & District Branch 2008 Programme Join email list for latest information Some pictures from recent shows 2008 Summer Show: View or download the schedule and entry form Note: New venue and meeting day for 2008

The British Cactus & Succulent Society (BCSS) has around 100 branches throughout the country. The Cambridge & District Branch meets on the second Wednesday of each month (except February) in the Memorial Hall, Woollards Lane, Great Shelford, Cambridge, CB22 5LZ.

Here is a map which should open in a new window. Use the controls on the map if you want more of an overview of how to get there.

The Cambridge Branch was formed in 1947, and usually attracts up to 40 people to its monthly meetings.

The meetings start at 7pm, but the first half-hour is just an opportunity to talk to others, stage show plants, and search the sales table for bargains, so you needn't arrive until 7.30pm. As a guide, the meetings sometimes go on until 10pm, but might finish earlier.

Everyone is welcome at the meetings (including non-members). Most meetings have a visiting speaker, often illustrated with slides, or sometimes with plants. Also there are:

• a monthly competitive show with about 14 classes. Awards are presented at the Annual General Meeting.
• a plant sales table, to which anyone may bring their spare plants for sale. The Branch takes a commission on sales - check how this works if you are thinking of bringing some plants.
• sales of pots and other sundries.
• coffee, tea, and biscuits, served during the interval in the talk.
• a library, from which members may borrow books.
• coach outings to nurseries.
• two shows each year, held at local Garden Centres. Pictures from recent shows

Do come to one of our meetings. Just come along, or if you want further information then email me, Clarke Brunt, or our Secretary, Paul Hoxey <paul@hoxey.com> (phone 01223 503382), or call our Chairman, Doreen Oakman, on 01763 260819. If you want, you can join or request a membership leaflet online. Note that, like other branches, the Cambridge Branch has to be self-financing, and does not receive any money from your subscription to the British Cactus & Succulent Society. Entrance to our meetings costs £1, and you can also contribute to our fund-raising by buying a raffle ticket.

Join our email list to be kept up to date. Just fill in your details to receive occasional news by email about the branch activities.

2008 Meetings

Thursday 11th January 2007 (note 2nd Thursday)	Annual General Meeting Although the main purpose of the meeting is to review the year 2006 and elect committee and officers for 2007, once the business is over we move to the more important matter of consuming lots of food and drink!
Friday 8th February	Annual Dinner, The Six Bells, Fulbourn.
Saturday 23rd February	Zone 6 Convention This year, it's Northampton & Milton Keynes branch's turn to host the convention for members of all the branches in the local zone. Details on their website.
Wednesday 12th March	NOTE: NEW VENUE AND MEETING DAY from now on. Society slides - Stemless Mesembs We thought we’d familiarise ourselves with the new venue and new meeting day without having a visiting speaker. So we’ve borrowed one of the Society’s sets of slides – the stemless members of the Mesembryanthemaceae family, which means, for example, Lithops – Living Stones.
Wednesday 9th April	David Minnion - Texas 3 The state of Texas contains a good proportion of the cacti and other desert flora of the United States.
Sunday 11th May	Summer Show held at Scotsdale Garden Centre, Great Shelford. We're holding our main show a bit earlier in the year, because of the National Show in August. A picture of one of the exhibits at a previous show - click for more pictures. The schedule and entry form will be available for download here when ready. View or download the schedule and entry form. Get Acrobat reader (if you don't have it already).
Wednesday 14th May	Peter Berresford - Hunting the Hedgehog: the Mojave Way In the world of 'common' (though not all that commonly used) names for cacti, 'hedgehog' usually refers to the genus Echinocereus.
Saturday 7th June	Zone 6 Show - Harrow Branch A show for all the branches in the area. Details from Harrow Branch.
Wednesday 11th June	Paul Hoxey - Along the coast of Southern Peru A trip to see some of the cacti of South America.
Wednesday 9th July	Paul Klaassen - Chile Following on from Peru last month, we move one country to the south, and into the long, thin, Chile.
Sunday 27th July	Zone 6 Open Day Berkhamsted and District Branch. This year the members of Berkhamsted Branch open their collections to visitors. Check the Zone 6 site.
Wednesday 13th August	Graham Charles - South American Habitats in Peril We welcome Graham back again, this time to tell us about some areas of South America where the cacti are threatened.
Saturday 16th August	National Show held at Wood Green Animal Shelter, London Road, Godmanchester, near Huntingdon, PE29 2NH. As the nearest branch to this new venue for the National Show (usually held every 4 years) we'll be helping with some of the organisation. Come to see some of the finest cacti and succulents in the country. Further details from the National Society site.
Wednesday 10th September	Neil Oakman - Stapeliads Our one-time member, now in exile, returns to tell us about some of his favourite plants from the Asclepiadaceae family.
Sunday 5th October	Autumn Show held at Meldreth Village Hall. A picture of one of the trophies - click for more pictures. The schedule and entry form will be available for download here when ready.
Wednesday 8th October	Bill Morris - Propagation II One of our own members, Bill is an expert planstman whose interests range among many plant families.
Wednesday 12th November	Eddy Harris - Three Men and a Condor (Part 1) We might guess that this concerns a trip to South America?
Wednesday 10th December	David Porter - Haworthias in habitat It will be good to see some of these popular greenhouse succulents in their natural habitat.

2009 Meetings

Other Cactus & Succulent Resources

• Clarke Brunt's Cactus and Succulent Page
• British Cactus & Succulent Society page.
• BCSS Zone 6 page for details of all the branches in Zone 6 of the BCSS.
• Tony Mace's Cactus and Succulent Mall, which includes a vast amount of information with links to many other sites.
• Richard Hodgkiss' Succulent Plant Page
• Ralph Martin's Cactus & Succulent Page including details of the BCSS Cardiff Branch, and a search engine for field collection numbers and collectors.
• Cactus Center Club based in Spain, and in Spanish, which after all is the language of many countries where cacti grow.