South Coast C&SS monthly meeting -October 2024
October 13 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm PDT
NOTE: THIS IS A NEW LOCATION FOR OCTOBER!!!!!
Fred Hesse Jr. Community Park
McTaggert Hall
Mini-Show Cactus and Succulent for October: Miniature (3 inch or less)
PRESENTER FOR OCTOBER: Gary Duke
ROADSIDE WEEDS OF TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO: Cacti and Succulents
“My wife and I took a road trip to Texas and New Mexico in April 2024. We rented an SUV at the El Paso airport to travel some of the gravelly fire roads. The presentation includes photos of many cacti and succulents along the roadside or within easy walking distance of the road, including many wildflowers and a few scenic wonders. April is prime time to see wildflowers. The route and what is seen is explained so you too can make the trip.”
Echinocereus enneacanthus near Presidio, TX.
Echinocereus dasyacanthus hybrid
Gary Duke has been collecting cacti and succulents for over 50 years. He’s an avid collector of cacti and also collects Tylecodons and Dudleyas. He is a retired Air Force officer with a doctoral degree in physics. During his military career, he moved his original and ever-expanding collection of less than about 30 plants from Illinois, where he grew up, to Omaha, NE, Dayton, OH (where he started their first C&S Society, which is now defunct), San Pedro, CA, Montgomery, AL and Albuquerque, NM where he had been show chairman. He has also been President of the South Coast Cactus and Succulent Society and the Long Beach Cactus Society. Following his military career, Gary worked as a program manager for Boeing for 16 years. He has over 1000 different species in his private collection and enjoys propagating them. One can view some plants in his collection on his Instagram site: garyduke53. He frequently gives slide presentations throughout southern California, including being invited to speak at the Huntington Botanical Gardens and the Denver Cactus and Succulent Society. He has traveled to Aruba, Peru, Baja Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and most recently, Texas and New Mexico to see cacti and succulents in habitat.