On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the Cactus & Succulent Society of San Jose's annual show and sale.  I went last year and enjoyed it, and the difference between how much I saw/knew/understood this year vs. last year was huge, which was kind of gratifying.  I may or may not have stood around allowing people to solicit me for advice.  It may or may not have made me want to write a book about succulents and/or transform into Debra Lee Baldwin.  Just sayin'. 

If memory serves, last year's sale favored cacti over succs, but this year's wares were fairly evenly divided between cacti and other succulents.  Plus, I like cacti more than I used to, particularly rebutias, of which there were plenty.  One vendor had air plants, and there were some "meh" plastic pots.  That was my only real disappointment--I wanted to pick up some cool pots, and this wasn't the place to do it.

Anyhow, without further ado, here are some photos of my favorite eye candy from Saturday's show!  Some of these won prizes, and others did not, but they all caught my eye.  Enjoy!

Yesterday, my girlfriend, a couple of friends, and I went to the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show in San Mateo.  And I have to be totally honest, succ-ers: I was a little underwhelmed.  Not because there weren't a lot of plants there (there were), and not because the display gardens weren't great (they were), but mainly because there was so dang much for sale that had only peripherally to do with gardening.  At times, it felt like more one of those outdoor "festivals" where people sell various wares at small booths.  Items for sale included BBQs, freestanding hot tubs, bar soap, and paintings (not of plants, nor gardens) on silk.

All of which is *not*, by any means, to disparage the show or the folks who were selling things there.  I was just expecting more plants--well, let's be honest--more succulents.  And to be fair, my visit did not coincide with the succulent-relevant seminars held by succulent luminaries such as Debra Lee Baldwin and Robin Stockwell, and I'm sure those were terrific.

A few highlights.  Agave attenuata "Kara's Stripe" was featured in the "hot plants" room.  Judging from the array there, I understood "hot" to mean "newly popular" rather than "best for hot climates."  And there were a lot of gorgeous bonsais there, too, several of which were many decades old, and truly amazing.

Succulent Gardens was one of only two succulent-specific vendors present, and they had a predictably terrific array of plants and books.  In addition to picking up a few plants such as the unnamed euphorbia pictured, right (which I would have sworn was a hoodia, but there were a bunch of them, all labeled "Euphorbia sp.," which just goes to show that I still have a lot left to learn).  I also had a chance to say hello to the lovely Tiffany Polli, the SG Retail Manager, knows a great deal about succulents and has a wonderful sense of humor to boot.  At last year's show, Succulent Gardens displayed the famous globe.

The other mostly-or-solely-cactus-and-succulent purveyor, Sticky Situation, was new to me, and had come all the way from Tucson, Arizona to show their wares.  I picked up two very cool gymnocalyciums from them a g. mesopotamicum (cresting!) and a g. friedriechii.  Check out that amazing purple color!

Sticky Situation also had the most drool-worthy plant I saw at the whole event: a huge crested myrtillocactus geometrizans (pictured below).  Hmm...  My birthday's coming up in a couple of months...  anyone wondering what to get me?  Look no further!

There was a smattering of other cool succulent-related stuff (check out the succulent display wall below, for example) but for the most part, I think I'm going to need to keep an eye out for cactus and succulent shows, since they're probably more likely to have the kinds of plants and pots in which I'm most interested.

This past weekend, I was lucky to attend the Succulent Celebration at Waterwise Botanicals, a huge, gorgeous outdoor nursery in Escondido, CA that specializes in succulents.  It was a blast--I'm so glad I made it. 

One of the first succ-ers I saw there was Cindy Davidson of The Succulent Perch fame, who recognized me right away and greeted me with a big hug.  I felt so welcomed!  Cindy's table boasted a marvelous array of arrangements--birdhouses and beyond.  Below left is a partial shot of a miniature garden Cindy constructed, complete with a perfect mini replica of Debra Lee Baldwin's new book.  Below left is a close-up of an echeveria purpusorum that Cindy used in one of her arrangements.  I love it when people use the slightly lesser-known succulents.

I spent an hour or two just roaming Waterwise Botanicals's vast grounds, which offered up dozens of picturesque views, including this:

And this:

I took over 100 photos with my trusty iPhone (admittedly, I regretted leaving my Nikon at home).  Here are a few of my favorites.  And by "a few," I mean "eighteen.  Click on any of them to see a larger version.

In all, an lovely weekend of sunshine, succ-ers, and succulents.  I also attended the Succulent VIP celebration, where I met many more succ-buddies in person at a drop-dead-gorgeous home garden.  Though I snapped plentiful pics there, too, I'm strictly forbidden from posting them until after the garden is featured in some print magazine that I can't remember the name of.  (Hmm, though I bet I can post pics of me and the other succ-ers there--I'll look into this.)

I'll post more soon about my other San Diego succulent adventures, which included the San Diego Botanical Gardens and more succulent nurseries than you can shake a stick (of fire) at!

The Succulent Extravaganza is an annual event at Succulent Gardens in Castroville, CA (the artichoke capital of the country--w00t!).  I'd never been to the event before--though I'd been to the Gardens once--and it was awesome.  So many people obsessed with succs all in one place.  Plus, the selection was incredible, the speakers were great, and the gardens were extra-beautiful.  I'll share some highlights.

This may look a lot to you like a huge, entire bed of agave "blue glow" and "blue flame..." and OMG, you're RIGHT!  Is that color awesome or what?  It's no wonder these little suckers have been getting so popular with succ-ers in recent years.

Fun fact: Both these kinds of agave produce few offshoots and are grown in a lab using tissue cultures (as opposed to offshoots or seeds).  They're two of the very few kinds not grown on-site at Succulent Gardens.  I happen to have a lovely blue glow agave at home, and very nearly acquired a blue flame on Friday, but they were a little picked over, plus I'd agreed ahead of time to a $50 spending limit, and I actually stuck to it! 

Here's a close-up of one of the blue glow agaves in the bed depicted above.  Sooo beautiful, right?  And in this pic, it's not even back-lit.  The back-lit ones are even cooler, as Candy of Sweetstuff's Sassy Succulents shows here.  (I really like her blog--you should subscribe to it, which if you're reading this, you probably already do.)

It was a tad weird at the event, because I was one of the youngest people by a lot.  I also felt practically giddy with energy and couldn't stop jumping around, which may or may not have frightened the other attendees.  (A short aside: the Succulent Extravaganza also felt very female and very white.  Debra Lee Baldwin says more men are into cacti, which certainly appeared to be the case two days later at the Cactus & Succulent Society of San Jose's show, which we visited on Sunday--it was also very white, and almost entirely male-dominated!)

One of the plants with which my girlfriend permitted me to leave was a small, beautiful Agave Attenuata.  Not the one pictured, which I believe is called Kara's Stripe, but a little teensy one that cost a mere $5!  I took it home and planted it in an unusual pot that's kind of a dull brown color, being sure to leave plenty of room for the roots to grow.  As you might know, agave are notorious for growing such big roots that they bust open their pots!  I'm not sure the color contrast of the pot and the agave would inspire anyone, but it looks better than it sounds.  Maybe I'll post a picture sometime.

In addition to the succulents I picked up for myself, which I'll describe in more detail in a future post, a friend gave me a $20 limit to pick up three succulents for her.  I chose this gorgeous array of soft green tones with dark rose highlights, and she loved them!  I'm told that they are now living happily on her windowsill.

Here's a closer-up pic of an agave blue flame at Succulent Gardens.  You can see how it got its name.  This picture doesn't even do it justice.

The speakers were pretty good, too.  I was only there on Friday, so I didn't get to hear as many as I would have liked, but I'll talk about two.  First, Debra Lee Baldwin.  You can't be into succulents for two minutes without hearing her name.  Her Friday talk was about different projects you can do with succulents, and included lots of great photo inspiration.  My girlfriend and I both got a little weak in the knees seeing her in person, and we may or may not have gasped aloud a few times during her presentation.  Whatever.  Don't judge me.

The other talk I loved was by Flora Grubb.  She owns the mind-blowingly cool nursery of the same name in San Francisco, which I've had the privilege of visiting twice.  Flora was uber-charming, and her subject was "What's Next for Succulents?"  What, you ask, is next for succulents?  I'll try to summarize her points:

1. Some people like succs because succs are weird.  That is awesome.  Succs have the power to save us from our urban drudgery.
   
2. We need to be tolerant of the poor saps who don't appreciate the weirdness of gasteria and just want some ice plants instead of a yard.
3. Succulents save water and are really good for the environment in a variety of other ways, such as minimizing transportation costs, use of harmful pesticides, and pollution.

I really enjoyed her talk, and it made me that much more anxious to visit her nursery again.

Every friend to whom I've related my Succulent Extravaganza experience has laughed heartily at me and asked things like, "Did you bring your knitting?"  But you know what?  I don't care.  Because the Succulent Extravaganza was a chance to see beautiful succulents and learn about them, plus a chance to hang out with other people who share my passion.  In many cases, maybe all we had in common was our passion for succulents.  But isn't it so cool that a hobby like this would bring me in contact with so many great people that I wouldn't otherwise encounter?  I can't wait for next year's event!  I feel like I became a real succ-er last weekend!