Each monthly issue of the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society Digest includes club updates, columns and articles by members on their favorite aspects of cactus and succulent culture. Digest Editor Jolie Krupnik and various club contributors always provide plenty of plant material to ponder.
Follow the links to right to view a sample copy of the digest or read individual articles. Join HSCSS to receive every newsletter in print and/or electronic form.
After a two-year hiatus, in-person HSCSS club meetings resumed in March with Mike Hellmann and Don Lesmeister sharing the basics of succulent repotting. Hellmann started the demo with a small fockea that was outgrowing its pot. Two euphorbias, two gasterias and a clumping cactus were also repotted for various reasons. Two of the succulents were raised to highlight plant form. …
With the Mediterranean collections once housed in Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shoenberg Temperate House being distributed in the new Emerson Conservatory and the Linnean House, the Temperate House is currently being converted to an arid plant display house highlighting cacti and succulent plants. Renovations and upgrades to the interior of the Temperate House include …
Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society will have three new board members in 2022: Jesse Rehmer, Emily Hall and Lois Kennedy. The society extends its thanks to retiring directors Pat Cosgrove and Pat Mahon for the time and effort they invested in HSCSS. “It is good to have new directors,” HSCSS President Ralph Olliges said. “They provide a different perspective on issues and events. We certainly are grateful …
Former HSCSS President Mike Hellmann has been elected to the Cactus and Succulent Society of America board of directors for a four-year term starting in 2022. In 2020, Hellmann was appointed to the 12-person CSSA board to replace a director who resigned. He has already served for about 16 months. “My objective in being on the board is to help the C&S hobby in general, as well as provide a voice …
By Bob Williams – As an Affiliate Society of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, HSCSS encourages membership in CSSA. Joining CSSA helps to support the organization’s mission of conservation, research, outreach and educational projects. If you have not renewed your membership, now is the time to do so. If you are currently not a member, please consider joining. …
Susan Carpentier, an always-energic HSCSS volunteer, was presented with the 2021 Martin Schweig Appreciation Award during the society’s holiday party in December. This award is given to members who give their time and energy to the club without asking for any recognition or acknowledgement. …
The current outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant has delayed the planned return to in-person activities for the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society, but club leaders are still doing their best to bring entertaining and informative programs to members and friends from other Midwest clubs. “We will continue to transmit via Zoom all meetings like we have in the past …”
By Eric Driskill – When I heard about and joined the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society, I wasn’t new to growing and collecting cacti, but I had no idea how little I knew. Joining our local society, I was immediately amazed that there were even a couple of other people who enjoyed these plants enough to collect them, much less join or participate in a “society.” …