September Speaker - Donna Pachorek
I have been growing cactus since I got my first ‘real’ cactus; a Gymnocalycium friedrichii, now G. stenopleurum; in the spring of 1979. That same year, in the fall; I purchased 6 Mammillarias in 2 1/2” pots. I still have two of those plants; M. albilanata ssp. tegelbergiana and M. llyodii. In the years since I have been involved with both the CSSA and Intercity Shows as a general helper; and have been Show Chair for the Sunset Succulent Society for at least the last 15 years. Originally, I was living and growing both cactus and succulents in the San Fernando Valley but since moving to the high desert; I decided to concentrate on growing cactus only, focused on Ariocarpus and related genera, Mammillarias, North and South American Opuntias, and Gymnocalyciums.
