Meeting Date: November 18, 2018
Meeting Time: 2:00 p.m.
Meeting Location: Sunnyslope High School, 35 W Dunlap, Phoenix

The meeting will include:

  • Announcements of upcoming meetings and events
  • Club news
  • Monthly presentation

No silent auction or library at this meeting.
Please do not bring plants.

Our Board meets monthly to discuss CACSS business; all members are welcome to attend Board meetings.

This month’s presenter: Peter Walkowiak

I graduated in 1985 from Cal Poly Pomona with a B.S. Degree in Ornamental Horticulture. Worked as manager, production manager and section manager for three wholesale nurseries for 14 years. Ran a landscaping business for another 14 years, the last five years of which I specialized in succulent landscapes. During the landscaping part of my life I restarted collecting plants for my collection. This led to propagating plants from seed and thus the seed was sown for the nursery that I now own and run for the last four years.

My interest in succulent plants really got going in college, 1981-82. By the time I graduated my collection had grown to 200 and many are still alive. This collection has grown to more than 2,000 currently. The collection consists of cacti, euphorbias and caudiciforms.

I am the current president of the Palomar CSS and was on the board for the San Diego CSS. I am on the Board of Directors of the C.S.S.A. for the last eight years and serve as the Nominations and Sales Chair. I was show chair for Palomar’s one and San Diego’s two shows and for one more year co-chair for the Intercity Show.

Presentation Title: Euphorbias, a Diverse Genus of Succulents

The genus Euphorbia is found throughout the world ranging from small weeds called spurge to large candelabra tree like plants, leaves to no leaves, spines or not and every shape in between. In Africa succulent Euphorbias have filled the niche that is occupied by cactus in the new world. The many forms of Euphorbias mimic the many forms of cacti which often leads to the people confusing them with cacti. In this talk I will talk about the care, maintenance, seed, hybridizing and the diversity of Succulent Euphorbias for both collections and landscape.

In this talk I will make the case for the breakup of the genus into as many as 20 new genera, most likely many more. I will make the case for my thoughts on the genus based upon morphology and ability to hybridize with other species. The genus Aloes was broken up for the same reasons. There are those people who would like to place Monadeniums back into Euphorbia for instance. I have never had a Monadenium cross with any other Euphorbia and many Monadeniums will not cross with other Monadeniums and when they do often produce mules, sterile offspring. I would guess that this genus should be broken into at least 4 genera.

With such a high degree of diversity you can find a Euphorbia to match your interests as a collector or as wonderfully diverse specimens for the landscape.