At the start of the pandemic the Cactus World nearly went into hibernation. Thankfully a few people decided that wasn’t going to happen and the weekly Tuesday Zoom talks were born. Here is a full list of all the talks that we have been treated to.
At first they were held weekly, then from May 2021 they went to twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. From January 2024 they moved to a monthly schedule on the second Tuesday of the month.
For the latest talks please check here: BCSS Zoom Talks (2nd Tuesday)
You do not need to be a member of the BCSS to attend the talks.
List of past BCSS Society Zoom Talks:
| 1 | Zlatko Janeba | Baja | Tuesday 7 April at 19.00 hrs |
| 2 | Jakub Jilemicky | South Africa | Tuesday 14 April at 19.00 hrs |
| 3 | Paul Klaassen | Oh I do like to be beside the seaside – Chile 2019 | Tuesday 21 April at 19.00 hrs |
| 4 | Brian McDonough | Growing from scratch | Tuesday 28 April at 19.00 hrs |
| 5 | Dr Colin Walker | Dragon Trees and Sansevierias | Tuesday 5 May at 19.30 hrs |
| 6 | Elisabeth and Norbert Sarnes | Patagonia | Tuesday 12 May at 19.30 hrs |
| 7 | Dr Tony Roberts | Cultivation and Propagation of Cacti and Succulents | Tuesday 19 May at 19.30 hrs |
| 8 | Jakub Jilemicky | South Africa (part two) | Tuesday 26 May at 19.30 hrs |
| 9 | Ian Woolnough | Mainland Mexican miscellany, big and small | Tuesday 2 June 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 10 | Gillian Evison, David Quail and Peter Bint | BCSS Ask the Experts | Tuesday 9 June 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 11 | Keith Green | Whistlestop Lithops land | Tuesday 16 June 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 12 | Roger Ferryman | Copiapoa, home and away | Tuesday 23 June 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 13 | Wiebe Bosma | Socotra | Tuesday 30 June 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 14 | Martin Lowry | Eastern lowlands of Bolivia | Tuesday 7 July 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 15 | Brian Kemble | Barrel cacti (Ferocactus and Echinocactus) | Tuesday 14 July 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 16 | Andry Petignat | Interesting species of Pachypodium from Madagascar | Tuesday 21 July 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 17 | Bob Potter | Cultivation my way | Tuesday 28 July 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 18 | Keith Bensusan | Succulents and flowers of Namaqualand and The Cape | Tuesday 11 August 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 19 | Andrew Young | Conophytum in habitat | Tuesday 18 August 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 20 | Ivor Crook | Rebutia: a personal view | Tuesday 25 August 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 21 | Stefan Burger | Chilean Altiplano | Tuesday 1 September 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 22 | Diane Walpole, Terry Smale and John Betteley | Ask the experts | Tuesday 8 September 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 23 | Andreas Mordhorst | The colourful world of cactus hybrids | Tuesday 15 September 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 24 | Thomas Guerry | Argentina, homeland of Tephrocactus | Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 25 | Derek Tribble | What’s new with Cotyledon and Tylecodon | Tuesday 29 September 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 26 | Terry Smale | Eponyms – people and plants named for them | Tuesday 6 October 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 27 | Milan Kurka | Mediolobivias in habitat | Tuesday 13 October 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 28 | Antun Perkovic | Grafting seedlings | Tuesday 20 October 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 29 | Mark Dimmitt | Adenium culture and selecting good quality plants | Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 30 | John Arnold | Melocactus and Discocactus | Tuesday 3 November 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 31 | Alan Rollason | Probably the Best Haworthia Collection in the World | Tuesday 10 November 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 32 | Marco Cristini | The Aeoniums of the Canary Islands | Tuesday 17 November 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 33 | Guillermo Rivera | An exploratory trip to Northwestern Argentina | Tuesday 24 November 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 34 | Andrew Gdaniec | Growing Cacti and Succulents | Tuesday 1 December 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 35 | Bob Webb | Euphorbia 1 | Tuesday 8 December 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 36 | Al Laius | African Adventures | Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 19.30 hrs |
| 37 | Cactus and Succulent – Christmas Party | Tuesday 22 December 2020 at 19.30 hrs | |
| 38 | Norbert Sarnes & Wiebe Bosma | DKG/BCSS – Special joint meeting | Friday 8 January 2021 at 19.00 hrs |
| 39 | Gareth Darbon | Showing and Judging: where to start? | Tuesday 12 January 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 40 | Dr Wolfgang Stuppy | Seeds – Time capsules of life | Tuesday 19 January 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 41 | Graham Charles | Gymnocalycium in habitat and culture | Tuesday 26 January 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 42 | Andreas Hofacker | A Journey to the Cacti of Brazil | Tuesday 2 February 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 43 | Woody Minnich | Conservation, Cacti & Succulents Around the World | Tuesday 9 February 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 44 | Tom Glavich | Mutants | Tuesday 16 February 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 45 | Ralph Martin | What do those Latin names mean? | Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 46 | David Traish | The Beauty of Our Plants | Tuesday 2 March 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 47 | Antun Perkovic | From seedling to a specimen | Tuesday 9 March 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 48 | Buck Hemenway | Discovery in South Africa | Tuesday 16 March 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 49 | Frank Süpplie | Orchid Cacti: beautiful Epiphyllum hybrids from the Netherlands | Tuesday 23 March 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 50 | Wolfgang Borgmann | Between Volcanoes and Dragon trees | Tuesday 30 March 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 51 | Derek Tribble | Eight Days in Namibia 2007 | Tuesday 6 April 2021 19.30 hrs |
| 52 | DKG/BCSS Special joint meeting (Thomas Brand & Paul Hoxey) | Uncommonly Mean Thrips & Cactus highlights of Peru from the Pacific coast to the High Andes | Saturday 10 April 2021 |
| 53 | Jo Osborne | Seed Banking in southern Africa with the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) | Tuesday 13 April 2021 19.30 hrs |
| 54 | Steven Molteno | Astroloba, and succulent patterns in the Karoo | Tuesday 20 April 2021 19.30 hrs |
| 55 | Stefan Burger | Chilean Novelties | Tuesday 27 April 2021 19.30 hrs |
| 56 | Ronald Fonteyne | From Cederberg to Richtersveld | Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 19.30 hrs (switch to twice monthly) |
| 57 | Elisabeth and Norbert Sarnes | The famous Ruta 40 | Tuesday 18 May 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 58 | Ian Woolnough | Pediocactus, Sclerocactus and selected associates | Tuesday 1 June 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 59 | Bob Potter | A Euphorbia odyssey | Tuesday 15 June 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 60 | Paul Klaassen | Madagascar 2016 | Tuesday 6 July 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 61 | Gillian Evison | A Beginner’s Guide to Caudiciforms | Tuesday 20 July 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 62 | Hazel Taylor | Animals and Cacti of the Galapagos Islands | Tuesday 3 August 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 63 | Stephen McCabe | Dudleya Conservation and Cultivation | Tuesday 17 August 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 64 | Steven Brack | Out of the fire, into the pan. Miniature succulents of the grit pans of Namaqualand | Tuesday 7 September 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 65 | Thomas Brand | Eye to eye with mealy bug and spider mite | Tuesday 21 September 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 66 | Peter Berresford | Echinocereus USA | Tuesday 5 October 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 67 | Jonathan Clark | Lithops, The Pebbles on the Bench | Tuesday 19 October 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 68 | Karen Ostler | Staging Plants – Tips and Techniques | Tuesday 9 November 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 69 | Attila Kapitany | Australian Succulent Plants – An Introduction | Tuesday 16 November 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 70 | Elizabeth Maddock, Norbert and Elisabeth Sarnes, Stirling Baker | Ask the Experts | Tuesday 7 December 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 71 | Tom Guy Hart Dyke | Plant Hunter & a Gardener with Passion | Tuesday 21 December 2021 at 19.30 hrs |
| 72 | Ian Thwaites | Plant Photography Workshop | Tuesday 18 January 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 73 | Karen Zimmerman | Aloes on my Mind: Exploring Aloe Hybrids One Generation at a Time | Tuesday 1 February 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 74 | Jeremy Spath | Inspiring Agaves | Tuesday 15 February 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 75 | Xiaobin Yao | Interest in Cacti and Succulents in China | Tuesday 1 March 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 76 | Ralph Martin | Cacti and Succulents from Seed | Tuesday 15 March 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 77 | Paul Spracklin | The Great Outdoors: Gardening with Cacti and Succulents | Tuesday 5 April 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 78 | Ronald Fonteyne | From Richtersveld to Klein Karoo | Tuesday 19 April 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 79 | Alain Buffel | Travelogue of Colombia 2019 | Tuesday 3 May 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 80 | Klaus-Peter Kleszewski | The world of Astrophytum – Habitats and Culture | Tuesday 17 May 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 81 | Steven Brack | Cacti and Xeric Succulents of New Mexico | Tuesday 7 June 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 82 | Marco Cristini | Adromischus in Cultivation | Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 83 | Graham Charles | Matucana in habitat and culture | Tuesday 5 July 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 84 | Melanie Lewis | Aeonium…a succulent passion! | Tuesday 19 July 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 85 | Jackson Burkholder | Sulcorebutia: A Virtual Tour through Bolivia | Tuesday 2 August 2022 19.30 hrs |
| 86 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Expedition Adventures working at Babylonstoren Farm | Tuesday 16 August 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 87 | David Ilett | I Grow Them My Their Way | Tuesday 6 September 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 88 | Roger Ferryman | Eriosyce In habitat and cultivation | Tuesday 20 September 2022 at 19.30 hrs |
| 89 | Andreas Hofacker | The Fascination of Notocactus – a misunderstood genus | Tuesday 4 October 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 90 | Antun Perkovic | Growing cacti from seed my way | Tuesday 18 October 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 91 | Attila Kapitany | Rock and Tree Dwelling Succulents of Australia | Tuesday 1 November 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 92 | Scott Harris | Euphorbia Francoisii | Tuesday 15 November 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 93 | Graham Charles | Columnar Cacti of Peru | Tuesday 6 December 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 94 | Anne Swithinbank | A Desert Plant Dilettante | Tuesday 20 December 2022 at 19.30hrs |
| 95 | Stephen White | Aeonium in habitat and cultivation – The Plant Heritage National Collection of Aeonium species and interspecific hybrids | Tuesday 17 January 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 96 | Elizabeth Maddock, Dave Ilett & Ian Thwaites | Ask the Experts | Tuesday 7 February 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 97 | Keith Green | North-West South Africa | Tuesday 21 February 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 98 | Jakub Jilemicky | Haworthias and Other Succulents of the Eastern Cape | Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 99 | Gareth Darbon | Cactus Identity Parade | Tuesday 21 March 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 100 | Jackson Burkholder | The Biology of Growing Cacti | Tuesday 4 April 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 101 | Richard Rolfe | Argentina Part 1 – A Road Trip of North-West Argentina | Tuesday 18 April 2023 at 20.00 hrs |
| 102 | Wolfgang Borgmann | How plants get their names | Tuesday 2 May 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 103 | Wiebe Bosma | Succulents and more from Tanzania | Tuesday 16 May 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 104 | Hazel Taylor | Plants and Animals of the Western Cape – Part 1 | Tuesday 6 June 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 105 | Thomas Guerry | Discovering Baja California | Tuesday 20 June 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 106 | Matija Strlic | News from the miniature world of Pelargonium sect. Hoarea | Tuesday 4 July 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 107 | Martin Lowry | Lobivia | Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 108 | Ogie Placido | Colourful Aloe hybrids for year-round interest | Tuesday 1 August 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 109 | Norbert Sarnes | The Genus Pterocactus | Tuesday 15 August 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 110 | George Theodoris | The Art of Euphorbia Francoisii: Breeding and Cultivating Madagascar’s Unique Succulent Gem | Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 111 | Derek Tribble | A History of the BCSS – Through the camera of the late Bryan Makin | Tuesday 19 September 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 112 | Elisabeth Sarnes | Galapagos: A Nature Paradise | Tuesday 3 October 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 113 | Ivor Crook | Pereskia: birth of the Cactaceae | Tuesday 17 October 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 114 | Andrea Cattabriga | Slow-growing succulents – a natural approach | Tuesday 7 November 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 115 | Hazel Taylor | Plants and Animals of the Western Cape – Part 2 | Tuesday 21 November 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 116 | Detlev Metzing | Gymnocalycium – Why I like them | Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 117 | Bob Webb | Euphorbias II: Some spiny and spineless shrubs | Tuesday 19 December 2023 at 19.30 hrs |
| 118 | Jakub Jilemicky | The Best from Haworthias in the Eastern Cape – part 2 | Tuesday 9 January 2024 at 19.30 hrs (first of the second tuesdays) |
| 119 | Dr Gillian Evison | Succulent Masterclass | Tuesday 13 February 2024 at 19.30 hrs |
SECOND WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER TALKS
The Second Weekend in September talks were organised by Paul Klaassen to replace the missing ELK event of the same weekend. This turned into an epic marathon of talks over a single weekend. The talks are listed below.
1. Ronald Fontyene & Paul Klaassen – INTRODUCTION and OPENING COMMENTS – Friday 11 September at 17.00 hrs
2. Ian Woolnough – Some Pediocactus, Sclerocactus and selected associates – Friday 11 September at 19.00hrs
3. Paul Klaassen (Tephrocactus Study Group) – But I don’t like Opuntias! 2020 – Saturday 12 September at 10.30hrs
4. Rikus van Veldhuisen (Euphorbia International Org) – Magnificent Tanzania – Saturday 12 September at 12.30 hrs
5. Finn Larsen (Denmark) – A trip to southern Peru – Saturday 12 September at 17.00 hrs
6. Wiebe Bosma – Highlights of my trips – Saturday 12 September at 19.00 hrs
7. Alain Buffel – Australia Land of Strange Arid Plants and Extraordinary Beasts – Sunday 13 September at 10.30 hrs
8. Jonathan Clark – Cacti & Succulents in 3D – Sunday 13 September at 14.00 hrs
USING ZOOM
Zoom can be downloaded onto a PC, laptop, tablet or phone. It is really easy to use. Once the application is downloaded onto your device all you need to do is decide which meetings you want to see, then open the app at the right time then click the “join” button and enter the meeting ID and password. You do not need to speak at all during the meetings other than perhaps saying hello to friends. Once the meeting starts everyone apart from the speaker is muted. Picture quality is great – almost like you are at the normal branch meeting. The only thing that cannot be provided is refreshments…..
If you are able to watch a youtube video then you will be able to use zoom – it is really that easy.
***NOTE – You DO NOT need a webcam or a microphone to use Zoom to attend branch or society meetings. You will still be able to see other people attending and also the talk images and you will be able to hear the speaker too (assuming your device has speakers).