MSG Event 2023

ZOOM MEETING

16th April 2023

19:30 HOURS (BST)

Brian Kemble will give his talk: - Mesembs at the Ruth Bancroft Garden (California)

As one might expect from such a large group of plants, the mesembs range from common to rare and endangered, and there are hundreds of species which have never found their way into horticulture. In some cases, this is because they are difficult to keep alive, or are not considered horticulturally desirable, but in many other cases they simply haven't been tried. At the Ruth Bancroft Garden, we have been on the lookout for new species, and over the last decade or so quite a few of these have been incorporated into our plantings. This webinar will look into the various mesembs which we have grown at the garden, high-lighting their beautiful flowers and their growing habits.

One of the most popular groups among mesemb collectors is Lithops, commonly called ‘living stones'. Although these are truly ‘plant jewels', they have very specific watering needs, and will not survive our wet California winters if planted outdoors. These will get only a passing mention in our webinar, while other less-known groups such as Cephalophyllum will get much more attention, since they have proved successful here. We will look at over 100 species and cultivars belonging to 42 genera. A few of the photos are of greenhouse-grown plants, but the great majority are of plants in the garden".

Joining details are:

Conophytum wettsteinii