There were plenty of specimens yet to be placed in the centre display and the full boxes, sitting idle but high in potential, proved tricky to negotiate if one’s balance wasn’t up to scratch. When the final details were attended to with the usual finesse, our annual Show was once again ready for the public to descend upon it.

The Show went on . . .
    As always when writing about the Combined Show, I run out of superlatives, words to describe shades of oddities, and patience to wait for our plants to look as good as the ones on display or in competition. After putting off writing anything down, and keeping lots of little comments in my head, I wised up and put pen to paper — my opinion of my memory is way better than it should be.

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    Up on stage were, among other genera, the prostrate Euphorbias (including a Waanders’ E. capsaintmariensis which was very impressive, sporting its far-reaching green-grey crinkled leaves and bell-shaped flowers), succulent crests, Gasterias, Haworthias, and Pachypodiums (a Lawsons’ P. rosulatum with glossy dark-green leaves on upraised arms above a swollen body). It is amazing to see the range of growth different plants show. For example, there were a couple of E. capsaintmariensis (by now you may realise that I quite like these plants…) which looked rather dissimilar: one looked ‘hard-grown’ with thin, half-closed, greyer leaves, while the other was more lush, with darker green leaves which were opened more and less crinkled. The stems varied in stages of ‘uprightness’ and the flowers were divergent shades and shapes.

    To the side of the stage was a display board covered with laminated close-ups…the photos were luscious in their colour and detail, leaving nothing to the imagination…but, never fear, this was not a challenge to the vice-squad, they were a collection of cacti and succulent images which Ruth Higgins had prepared for the Show. The pictures nicely offset the plants all around the room, a lot of which (alas) were not in flower.

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    Ah, but how our plants make up for not being in flower! The Aloinopsis schooneesii (what a great name…!) which won first prize was a lumpy, olive-green mound of half-moon leaves. It was 10-15cm tall, and plumply, evenly grown. And there was the prize-winning Rebutia heliosa which resembled a collection of delicate spun-iron orbs, fine little dips in the crown of each head, and bursting with new pups. Not to be outdone was a first-prize Sedum furfuraceum with dainty fat leaves seemingly encrusted with sugary particles. I hadn’t wandered far when I was again impressed, this time with a 2nd prize-winning Parodia buiningii with its distinctive bluish-green body contrasting with chocolate brown spines which flared out from prominent ribs. You don’t often get to see them get this big…ahem, well, not in our collection anyway.

    For those who are looking to enter plants in 1997 -- I would highly recommend putting entries into Monadenium, Haworthia, and the medusa-head Euphorbias. These groups had few or no entries this year a nicely grown though not-very-big plant could take out a prize. Write it down, write it down…

    Continuing on my merry way along the benches, I kept an eagle-eye out for children who were apt to attach themselves to various spiky things. A woman with a big camera, equipped with two of the largest flashes I have ever seen, loomed up at me from the central display area -- she told me that she always came to our Combined Show because our plants offered her opportunities to take the most bizarre shapes and colours for her photo club competitions. I agreed that we certainly had a unique hobby and covered my eyes as she set off to capture more plant formations for posterity.
    All in all, another successful show. A pity the sales benches were denuded in such a short time. We made our first sales ever at this Combined Show and I urge other members to take advantage of this perfect ‘culling’ and propagation reward.

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