2018 (en)

Interessante Agavenstandorte in Mexiko (de)

Interesting Agave locations in Mexico (de)

Succulent plants but not only... Intriguing and bizarre perspectives from the plant kingdom (en)

Plants have always been an important part of my life. As a kid my very first acquisition was a Gymnocalycium mihanovichii and later a Dioscorea elephantipes, followed by many other plants, but these two in particular had apparently an imprinting effect on me and have been a constant presence in my collection till nowadays.
The immense variety of plants fascinated me and captivated my attention, therefore I specialized my hobby of photography literally focusing on plants. With time my collection of photos has grown considerably and is a lasting memory of sadly gone plants, rare and difficult ones of friends, great cultivators, travels and documentary observations. Now I have an extensive archive that shows how wonderful and sometimes bizarre our nature is.
Attracted not only by flowers, the most showy part of plants, my camera lens concentrates on hidden and suggestive views thus discovering details, colours, geometry as well as similarities and even weird aspects, unexpected forms and living sculptures.
Part of my photos is absolutely original with the colours emphasized only by the black background, while others are evidently processed or completely transformed. But let the pictures speak for themselves!

Rebutia (fr)

Rebutia

I've been growing cacti for about 40 years. Since the beginning, understanding plant biodiversity in all aspects is my main motivation. Cultivation proved to be a very fruitful experience in the long run. I take weekly notes of "in vivo" observations. Seed production is an early outcome of my collection. In 2006 I entered in a partnership with the late AIAPS for supplying seeds to members. After AIAPS sad demise I refocused on the international market. adbls-graines-cactus.com

Rebutia is a very interesting genius for biodiversity investigations; my first publications were on R. albiflora, which proved to be an incredibly atypical species. I've never been able to tell how many plants I grow but year after year investigations are progressing on all of them.

Expeditie naar het noorden van Chihuahua en Coahuila (nl)

Expedition to the north of Chihuahua and Coahuila

For nearly 40 years Mieke Geuens and her husband René Goris have been engaged in cacti. During that time they have built up a large collection. In the beginning they had a distinct predilection for the genus Echinocereus and hence plants from that genus occupy most of the space in their greenhouse, but other species are not neglected. Lately Mieke’s preference has shifted towards the Crassulaceae, Echeverias in particular.
In 2003 Mieke and René started visiting cacti in their natural environment and their travels led them mostly to the cactus areas in Mexico. They visited all Mexican states where Echinocacti grow but in recent years they also have travelled to the more southerly states where more Echeverias grow./p>

As a subject for the lecture the region in the north of the states Chihuahua and Coahuila was chosen, especially for the large number of cacti that can be seen. It is a region not so often visited by cactus travellers and not well known by many, but has a very diverse vegetation including many cactus species. With a bit of luck one can photograph flowering plants both in spring and autumn, and the landscapes also are rewarding subjects for nice pictures. Solely from the genus Echinocereus 10 species grow in this dry north. But you will also see Coryphanthas, Escobarias, Thelocacti and Mammillarias.

A meeting for Opuntia lovers

Lecture

Norbert Sarnes

Germany

A Chilean Odyssey (en)

My late mother initiated my interest in the cactaceae in the early 1960s and as a baby I was once found chewing on a length of flagelliformis- an episode often recounted to my embarrassment and her delight. Since then, collecting, propagating and researching this fascinating genus of plants has been an important part of my life taking me to amazing places.
Cacti and their natural habitats have provided me with my own canon of stories and tales- many of which recount my own misfortune (enduring broken bones, biblical floods and interesting animal encounters) and engagement with the wonders of nature (I was in Santiago for the earthquake of 2010). Visiting Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and last but not least, Chile, I have made some lifelong friends, seen unusual and rare species in their natural habitat and created my own collection.

In this lecture, I will be focusing on my favourite location: Chile. I first visited in 1998 and have returned on a regular basis ever since. Through the stories and photographs, I hope to share with you some of my enthusiasm and passion for this beautiful land and its flora and fauna.

Wild or not wild? How natural soils can benefit in obtaining wild-looking plants (en)

Andrea Cattabriga was born in 1965 in Bologna, Italy, and has been an enthusiast succulent plant collector since he was 9. He obtained a Master’s degree in Natural Sciences. Since 1991 he has been engaged in the conservation of rare, endangered and threatened succulent plant species. In this context he became a member of the International Organization for Succulent Plants Study (IOS) and collaborated with the environmental association CANTE in Mexico, WWF-TRAFFIC EUROPE and CITES. He also became plant specialist for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - Species Survival Commission.
Since 1982 Andrea has published several articles and books on succulent plants.
His plant collection was established around 1980 and has been mainly devoted to threatened cacti grown from seed. In 2012 he decided to abandon his job as a graphic designer as well as his environmental involvements and to become a professional grower. He started MONDOCACTUS nursery, which is conducted in a sustainable way, and obtained the EU-CITES authorization to propagate plants species subject to its regulation. Since then the collection has grown quickly to incorporate many other succulent plant species. One of his efforts in the cultivation of threatened cacti was to apply proper cultivation techniques in order to obtain plants with a natural appearance, to satisfy the market demand in wild resembling plant specimens. After many trials and 20 years of experimentation Andrea found that this could be obtained by using growing media very similar to the natural ones.
Today many cactus growers appreciate his ‘wild’ style of growing.

In his lecture Andrea will show the results obtained in the cultivation of some Mexican plants characterized by very slow growth, through the use of mineral media consisting of material of geopedological origin very similar to that of the soils of their natural places. The lecture will be supported by in-vivo observations of cultivated plant specimens of different ages and grown in different soil samples.