Orange County Cactus & Succulent Society

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Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society

When: Wednesday, February 25th, 2026
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30 pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA. 92806

(Meeting location is at the South East corner of the Church)

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Adam Baker, presenting: Astrophytum, and the Man who fell in love with a genus.

Presentation: I will be discussing this amazing genus and would love to answer questions you may have specific to Astrophytum. I will share my experiences through the years and how I tackled challenges in my own microclimate. In addition to the slide presentation, I will bring some plants from my own collection so you can see why I fell in love. I will also have some plants to sell as well!

Biography: Adam Is a father and a husband before anything else. A software developer by trade and in the technology field for almost two decades.

Cacti and succulents only became part of his life in the last 6 years as he discovered the unique plants at his in-law’s house in West Covina. Since then, he has devoted a good amount of the little free time one has left with a toddler, to learning, caring for, and growing his collection. As he started to learn about and fall in love with each genus, one kept growing and that was Astrophytum.

Adam has Astrophytum plants of different form, variety, and cultivar that he cares for in his greenhouse. In addition to that over the past few years he began pollinating and harvesting seeds from his own plants crossing specific species to form some wonderful hybrids and varieties. Adam grows Astrophytum from seed and has learned a lot about care, climate conditions, pest control, and death while growing this genus of cacti. Adam still considers himself an amateur and is constantly humbled by many in the world of cacti & succulents, specifically Astrophytum. He is known as @bakersuccs on Instagram. His website is bakersuccs.com and always enjoys geek-ing out over plants!

Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society

When?
Wednesday, January 14th, 2026
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Kelly Griffin, presenting: Australia 2025

Presentation:

We spent the better part of last October 2024 in the Cape York region of Queensland Australia.  We saw lots of very cool and interesting plants.  I was invited back again on short notice this September 2025 to explore the Northern Territory.

We got to visit so many incredible endemic and true plant oddities in nature,  It was overwhelming honestly.  On this trip, we drove some 3,300 miles in a very zigzag manner all the way from Darwin Australia to Brisbane. I had also opted to fly home through Vancouver only to save money on the flight but in so doing adding another 2,400 miles to an already ridiculous total of 22,100 miles for the trip ~ what a world!

As exhausting as that much flying and driving is, the rewards of seeing all that we did is pretty special.

I will share just the highlights of this trip made this year “down-under”.  This program includes, Bottletrees, Cycads, grass trees and a myriad of other living things both flora and fauna that we found.

Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society

Thank you to all our great volunteers and members, 2025 was a great year for our club!

Happy Holidays…..see you all in 2026

Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society

When?
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Peter Walkowiak, presenting: How to grow succulents; Tips from a grower.

Presentation:

I have been growing plants my whole life, interest in plants goes back to when I was 5-6 years old. The purpose of this talk is to educate people on all aspects of growing succulent plants. I have a very large and diverse collection of succulent plants and many of you have seen some of them in shows. I grow hard and big. I also have a wholesale nursery.

Topics will include all stages and materials that goes into growing succulent plants successfully. During this talk, questions will be encouraged, I will have gift plants for great questions. This will be a learning, information talk. Topics to be covered:

* Soil – Fast draining, easy to wet soil. Materials to use and  to stay away from.

* Water – PH, acidity vs alkalinity. Fertilizer. When to water.

* Exposure – sun vs shade, air movement.

* Growing techniques – pruning, size of pots, saucers.

I will be binging display plants to help demonstrate the points in my talk and for your enjoyment. There are many things that we do, myths that are detrimental to plant growth and vigor, and these will be discussed.

Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society

When?
Wednesday, September 24th, 2025
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Peter Breslin, presenting: Rare and Protected Cacti and Succulents of Arizona

Presentation:

Arizona is not only the heart of the Sonoran Desert region, but also contains 54 level IV ecoregions, most of which are home to rare, endemic, and difficult to find cacti and succulents. The extraordinary geographical and climate variety in Arizona has led to repeated “microadaptation” of many unique species. For example, it’s possible within only about 70 miles of road from Navajo Bridge to Fredonia, AZ, to encounter four distinct Pediocactus, three of which are rare and federally protected. Breslin will present a tour of Arizona, providing a look at more than 50 taxa, with a focus on the rare and endangered species. Of course, Arizona is home to the giant saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and organ pipe (Stenocereus thurberi), but in this talk, Breslin highlights the tiny, well-hidden, unusual cacti found in the state, such as Pediocactus peeblesianus subsp. fickeiseniorum, Cochemiea viridiflora and Pelecyphora (Escobaria) robbinsorum. The presentation features habitat profiles and cultivation tips for each species. Many of the rarest and most endangered cacti in Arizona are also quite challenging to grow from seed to flower, even in proximity to their natural range.

Biography:

Peter Breslin has been a fanatical lover of cacti and succulent since age 12, growing up in temperate Pennsylvania. For example, he saved $300 from his paper route money and spent every penny of it on a greenhouse for growing cacti. Breslin was one of the authors of the Field Guide to the Cacti and Succulents of Arizona, published by the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, now in its fourth printing. He received a Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2020, with dissertation research studying the biogeography and evolution of the Cactaceae, with a focus on the genera Mammillaria, Coryphantha/Escobaria/Pelecyphora, and Cochemiea. He was recently hired as the inaugural Raymond M. Turner Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill at the University of Arizona, working on saguaro population dynamics and the effects of rapid environmental change on the current and future distribution of saguaros. He is also the managing editor of publications produced by the Cactus and Succulent Society of America.

Top left: Pediocactus paradinei with long, thin spines, on the way to Jacob Lake, AZ

Top right: Cochemiea viridiflora flowering near Top of the World, AZ

Bottom left: Pediocactus bradyi in fruit, Marble Canyon, AZ

Bottom right: Echinomastus (Sclerocactus) aff. acunensis flowering near Florence, AZ

When?
Wednesday, August 27th, 2025
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Eli Cohen, presenting: California’s Native Succulents

Presentation:

Hello OCCSS! My name is Eli Cohen, I’m a student at PCC studying ecology, and a lifelong devotee of desert biology. In the past year and a half, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of accompanying friends and colleagues as they study the botany of the American Southwest. These trips have shown me some of California’s most incredible flora and fauna, in places sometimes remote, sometimes surprisingly local. In following the paths we travelled and learning about the many plants seen, California’s history unfolded on a geologic time scale, while also highlighting the need to conserve the precious wildlife endemic to our shared home. I aim to share the wonderful plants, sights, and phenomena from these journeys to kindle and deepen the love of California’s nature in everyone.

When?
Wednesday, June 25th, 2025
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Gunner Eisel, presenting: John R. Rodman Arboretum at Pitzer College: A jewel of C&S Landscaping

Presentation:

The Arboretum was the brainchild of Pitzer College Environmental Studies professor John Rodman who served as its director from 1988 to 2001. Joe Clements followed him as director from 2001 to 2015 when he retired. The 30+ acre arboretum is composed of 15 distinct garden areas. Several disciplines make use of the arboretum, including art, anthropology and environmental studies. This topic is particularly interesting for a number of reasons. It’s is a relatively new landscape installation with most plants easily obtainable in the trade. They are suitable to our area and easy to propagate. You may be inspired by the landscaping and find some of the ideas useful in our own landscaping projects.

Biography:

Gunnar Eisel’s interest in cacti and succulents can be traced back to his childhood infatuation with photographing night-blooming cereus flowers and a few unfortunate encounters with opuntia glochids. His interest in cacti became intensified through many annual trips to the Anza-Borrego desert.

Born and raised near Heidelberg, Germany, Eisel has taught music at CSULA, CSUF, Whittier College Fullerton College and Citrus College. He recently retired as a full-time music theory and history of music professor at Citrus College in Glendora, CA where his students were occasionally subjected to his rantings regarding cacti and succulents.

An avid C&S collector, he served as Executive Director of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) for 15 years and as President of the San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Society for 10 years. He is currently the Inter-city Cactus and Succulent Show and Sale Chair.

When?
Wednesday, May 28th, 2025
Social time starts at 7:00 pm
Meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Anaheim United Methodist Church
1000 State College Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Visitors welcome!

Join us as we welcome Russel Ray, presenting: Nature’s Geometry: Succulents

Presentation:

Russel uses the Fibonacci sequence of numbers to look at the shape of plants, the number of plant ribs, the number of spines in areoles, golden angles, phyllotaxis (the divergence angle), golden triangles, Fibonacci triangles, golden squares, golden rectangles, circles, fractals, and, most fascinating to him, golden spirals. He brings a selection of live succulents showing nature’s geometry and will have copies for sale of his book, “Nature’s Geometry: Succulents,” a soft-cover book with over 600 pictures in 174 pages, discounted to $25 at the meeting.

Biography:

Russel is from Kingsville, Texas, where he was born and then raised mostly by his paternal grandmother. He has lived in the San Diego area since April 1993. He has been self-employed his entire life, mostly as a “serial entrepreneur” specializing in getting companies through startup and growth phases. He has owned businesses in grocery export, antique restoration, roofing, landscaping, international & wireless telecommunications, heating & cooling, computer sales, writing & editing, typing & desktop publishing, construction, real estate agent, real estate investing & renovating, project management, business consultant, home inspector, photographer, and author.