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Graham Charles Graham has been growing cacti and other succulents since the age of 12, and has been a qualified judge for over 30 years. He has always been particularly interested in South American cacti, and over the years he has amassed a large collection of documented plants. Graham has made several trips to South America to observe the plants in their native habitats; he has written a number of articles for UK journals and is a popular speaker. He shares his hobby and his glasshouse with his wife, Elisabeth, who is also a keen grower of succulent plants. Graham is enthusiastic about what he calls 'practical conservation', reducing the demand for field collected plants by growing seedlings from habitat collected seed. He distributes these through The Chileans, a specialist Society for the study of South American cacti. The picture opposite shows Graham in his element amid a veritable forest of Copiapoa cinerea var dealbata in Chile |
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John Pilbeam John has grown cacti and other succulent plants since he was 17 years of age. He has always had a strong interest in propagation, and on retiring from a career in the British Civil Service started a new life as a professional nurseryman. From his nursery in Kent he offers a wide range of plants for the keen collector, mostly propagated 'in-house' from seed or cuttings. John is a popular lecturer on succulent plants and regularly gives talks to enthusiasts both in the UK and overseas. It is, however, as an author of articles and books for which he is best known; arguably the most prolific in the hobby. His catholic plant interests not only include just about all cacti, but many genera of other succulent plants as well. His encyclopedic knowledge and highly-readable style combine to make him the most popular author on succulent plants. The picture opposite shows John (arms folded) along with Bill Weightman, his regular companion on field trips and the producer of most of the photographs that illustrate John's books, articles and lectures. Thelocactus -
The Cactus File Handbook 1 Another of John's books, produced in colaboration with David Hunt, is entitled A Sulco Gallery. Primarily a photographic reference to the genus Sulcorebutia, the book builds on John's earlier book Sulcorebutia and Weingartia, a Collectors' Guide and is a 'must-have' for enthusiasts of South American cacti. This book is not available from us, but can be obtained direct from John via the Connoisseurs Cacti web site. |
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Chris's passion for succulents began in the 1970's and progressed quickly from general interest, to the specialization of Conophytum and Adromischus he has today. In the company of Derek Tribble, he's made 3 visits to South Africa resulting in the discovery of a new conophytum in 1996, named C. chrisolum is his honour. As well as co-authoring the Adromischus Handbook, Chris has contributed to other books and journals. He produced "Cono Corner" every issue for the first 10 years of the Mesemb Study Group Bulletin and still submits occasional articles there. He has written on Adromischus in NCSS/BCSS journals, Aloe and The Cactus File. Photography has long been another interest and Chris has had pictures published in Steven Hammer's The Genus Conophytum, and is a contributing author to Steven's latest conophytum book, New Views of the Genus Conophytum. In response to requests from other enthusiasts, he offers propagations from his extensive collections of documented conophytum and adromischus plants by mail order. The picture opposite shows Chris in his greenhouse in Sheffield. |
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Gordon was a lecturer in Horticultural Botany at Reading University until he retired in 1981. A life-long grower of succulent plants, he has tended to favour those less well represented in collections and in the literature. He has written several books and hundreds of articles on succulent plants and many of the once 'Cinderella' groups of plants he has championed have gone on to become very popular with growers. Gordon is President of the British Cactus and Succulent Society, a position he has held for over 20 years. He was also President of the African Succulent Plant Society and has been honoured by horticultural societies across the world for his services to succulent plant growing and horticulture in general. The picture opposite shows Gordon admiring a plant of Notocactus plasticus at his home in Reading. |
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Derek has been growing cacti and succulents as an amateur since his teenage years. His passion is now growing and studying South African leaf succulents and he has made eleven visits to photograph these plants in nature. Several new taxa have been found during these visits, including Tylecodon tribblei. As well as Adromischus, he maintains private study collections of Anacampseros, Avonia, Bulbine, Crassula, Haworthia and Tylecodon. Derek has been a member of the British Cactus and Succulent Society for over 35 years and is chairman of Harrow Branch. After five years as chairman of the Haworthia Society, he is now an honorary vice-president. As well as co-authoring the Adromischus Handbook, he helped write the cactus and mesemb sections in the three-volume RHS Dictionary of Gardening and has contributed towards Crassulas - a Grower's Guide by Gordon Rowley. The picture shows Derek during a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. |