Mini-Show Cactus for September: Discocactus, Uebelmania
Mini-Show Succulent for September: Dracaena/Sansevieria

John Trager is the Bernie and Miyako Storch Curator of Desert Collections at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California where he has worked since 1983. Prior to that he worked with master propagator Frank Horwood at Abbey Garden Nursery when it was located in Carpinteria. Trager’s horticultural writings have appeared in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, the Euphorbia Journal, and various other horticultural publications. He is also known for his photography — over 3000 of his images have been published in numerous textbooks and horticultural journals. Book projects include co-authorship and photography for Dry Climate Gardening with Succulents produced by the Huntington (1995), principal photographer for The Genus Conophytum (1993) and a contributor to other works by Steven Hammer: Lithops, Treasures of the Veld (1999) and Dumpling and His Wife  (2002,) a revision of the The Genus Conophytum and Mesembs of the World  (1998, Smith, Hammer et al.). He has also contributed photographs to works by Gordon Rowley: The Succulent Compositae (1994), Anacampseros, Avonia, Grahamia: a grower’s handbook (1995), Crassula, A Grower’s Guide (2003), as well as the multi-authored six-volume reference The Illustrated Handbook of Succulents (2001-2003). He continues to contribute images for new editions and new publications as opportunity and demand arises. The annual ISI introductions published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal also provide a venue for his writing and photography. John has traveled widely in search of plants (and insects) including China, Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico, Namibia, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela. He holds a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Cal Poly Pomona (1992) and earlier studied botany at Santa Barbara City College and UCSB.