PROGRAMME 2021 December 6th, 2021 7:45 pm Hatch End Our member David Minnion will present a couple of cactus-related films from the USA and a couple of cartoons (time permitting). In lieu of our Christmas Social buffet, we plan to share Christmas cakes and mince pies at the mid-way break - please don't forget if you offered to donate these. As usual, a few extra prizes please donated for the raffle would help raise some festive cheer! Again there will not be an entry charge. Please bring cacti and succulents for our table show classes as planned last year: Astrophytum Group; Echeveria Subgroup; any cactus; any succulent. Thank you for following precautions against the pandemic. We plan to open all the windows when we arrive to ventilate the hall, but close them when we start to sit down, since it will probably be too cold otherwise. Spread of the omicron variant may curtail our future meetings (so please take this opportunity for an evening out!), but it had already been decided not to hold a meeting in January because attendance is traditionally low. Finally, obviously, please do not attend if you have any covid or flu symptoms. Inform the chairman in confidence via email if you develop covid within 10 days after the meeting - so he can advise attending members to take a test. If you have concerns about health issues e.g. a spouse who is shielding, then we fully understand and look forward to meeting you sometime in the future. New visitors are very welcome. November 1st, 2021 7:45 pm Hatch End David Traish from Wallington, Surrey, will present "A History of Mammillaria" David is a member of The Royal Photographic Society so we can expect some nice pictures. There will not be an entry charge and as usual, there will be a raffle and members' sales plants. Please bring cacti and succulents for our table show classes as planned last year: Echinocereus Group; Mesemb Group; any cactus; any succulent. Thank you for following precautions against the pandemic. Please use the hand sanitiser and if you help by putting up a table, please also wipe it down before use, particularly along the edges. Please leave a larger space between seats. While you may not wish to wear a mask all evening, please do at least wear one in areas where people gather round, such as the plant sales, table show or hatch. Finally, obviously, please do not attend if you have any covid or flu symptoms. Inform the chairman in confidence via email if you develop covid within 10 days after the meeting - so he can advise attending members to take a test. If you have concerns about health issues e.g. a spouse who is shielding, then we fully understand and look forward to meeting you sometime in the future. New visitors are very welcome. October 4th, 2021 7:45 pm Hatch End Rodney Sims from Tring will present "Eastern Cape - Succulents from South Africa" There will not be an entry charge and as usual, there will be a raffle and members' sales plants. Please bring cacti and succulents for our table show classes as planned last year: Lophophora or Strombocactus Group; Stapelia Group; any cactus; any succulent. Our committee has discussed taking precautions against the pandemic. It may be too cold to keep all the windows open in future, so we will need reduce the risk of spreading infections in other ways. The hall is being cleaned daily, but that will be after our meeting and it is used by a nursery and a beaver groups before us. Hand sanitiser and wipes will be available. If you help by putting up a table, please also wipe it down before use, particularly along the edges. Please leave a larger space between seats. While you may not wish to wear a mask all evening, please do at least wear one in areas where people gather round, such as the plant sales, table show or hatch. As before, refreshments will be served around 9:00 p.m. in disposable cups and individually wrapped biscuits will be available. Finally, obviously, please do not attend if you have any covid or flu symptoms. Inform the chairman in confidence via email if you develop covid within 10 days after the meeting - so he can advise attending members to take a test. If you have concerns about health issues e.g. a spouse who is shielding, then we fully understand and look forward to meeting you sometime in the future. New visitors will of course be very welcome. September 6th, 2021 7:45 pm Hatch End Ian Woolnough from Norfolk will present "World Collections and Nurseries". There will not be an entry charge. As usual, there will be a raffle and members' sales plants. Please bring cacti and succulents for the four table show classes as planned last year: Turbinicarpus Group; Agave Group; any cactus; any succulent. We will again take precautions against covid e.g. keeping windows open. The hall is being cleaned daily, but that will be after our meeting and there is a daily nursery in the room before us. Refreshments will be served in disposable cups and individually wrapped biscuits will be available. Hand sanitiser and wipes will be available - you may want to wipe your chair before use. Please help wipe the few tables that we use as we put them up. It is up to your judgement how much of the time you want to wear a mask. If you have concerns about health issues e.g. a spouse who is shielding, then we will fully understand if you do not attend. We look forward to seeing you when there is less covid in circulation. New visitors are very welcome. August 2nd, 2021 7:30 pm Hatch End David Minnion - “Cacti in Utah” Re-start of our physical meetings at Hatch End. Previous ZOOM meetings Meetings in person were cancelled due to COVID-19, however, we were having online ZOOM meetings. Jan 4th, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm For our next virtual Zoom meeting, Ralph Martin (from Wales) will tell us about the plants "In his New Greenhouse 2017". As usual, "visitors" are welcome to join if you have friends you want to ask. Feb 1st, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm Horticulturist Ben Turner has agreed to talk about his visit to the "Los Angeles County Arboretum and the Huntington Gardens" in sunny southern California where many cacti & succulents can be grown outdoors. As usual, "visitors" are welcome to join if you have friends you want to ask. Mar 1st, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm For this Zoom meeting we will take an advantage of a speaker too far away to visit London and welcome Colin Walker to speak about "Succulent Daisies" which you voted for. Apr 5th, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm On Easter Monday evening Ivor Crook from Manchester Branch will present "Succulent Euphorbias of Southern Africa", based upon his visits there. May 3rd, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm John Arnold - “Plants in my Collection” We will welcome past BCSS Chairman John Arnold from Lincoln. He has a strong interest in South American cacti and will tell us about some of the plants in his collection. Last November, he presented a BCSS talk about Melocacti & Discocacti, which may well feature again. June 7th, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm Brian McDonough - “Growing Aloes” This month we welcome Brian McDonough who is well known in cactus-circles as a photographer and artist, having drawn cover illustrations for the Mesemb Study Group bulletin. Now living in Glasgow, he is their branch chairman and organises their monthly Zoom meeting programme. This talk will showcase Brian's excellent growing and seed raising skills. He gave insights into this during a BCSS Zoom meeting last year. He has also hybridised small Aloes. July 5th, 2021 ZOOM 8:00 pm John Ede - “Chile - Twice” An old friend of our branch who has been unable to travel at night in recent years will tell us about his visits to Chile. A link to join the session will be circulated by email a few days beforehand as usual.