NORTH WEST CACTUS MART
Saturday 17th April 2010
St Thomas More Church Hall
Kirkway, Off Mainway, Middleton
Manchester M24 1PP
10.30 am - 3.00pm
Admission £1.50
Traders/Sellers:
Oak Dene Nurseries
Croston Cactus
Rene Geissler
David Rushforth
Harry Mak
Ray Allcock
The Plant Lovers
Harry Mays
Richard and Wendy Edginton
Tony Irons Seedling Cacti
Philip Barker (BEF Pots etc.)
David Quail
Dorothy Minors
Maurice Williams
Keith Larkin (Books)
Cactusshop
All Enquiries: philip@barker3832.freeserve.co.uk
Grand Auction of Cactus and Succulent plants.
This auction will be held on Saturday May 1st 2010 at St Thomas More Church Hall, Kirkway, Alkrington, Middleton, Manchester M24 1PP. The auction is due to commence at 1pm. The collection being auctioned is a large one with many splendid plants. This has been occasioned by the death of the owner. It is a splendid collection with a host of mature plants the like of which do not become available all that often. To get a flavour of the plants available Chris Leather has set up a web site showing well over 100 of the plants including a few general views that will allow you to savour the size and extent of the collection.
The hall will be open from midday on the day of the auction to allow everybody to view the plants prior to the start of events. There will be refreshments available upon entry to the hall.
In addition to the auction there will be a sale of small plants that would not be suitable for the auction itself. These will be priced at singularly suitable low, low prices.
Should you require further help, instructions to reach the hall or any other advice please contact Peter Bint (details on the 'Contact us' page).
The Auction was attended by a good number of people, all of whom departed very happy with the proceedings. Some were much lighter in the pocket but well laden with products. I offer a grateful thanks to all who helped with the distribution of this wonderful collection around the country.
OPEN DAY - SUNDAY JUNE 13TH 2010.
4 collections will be open to all who are interested in cacti and succulents. The commencement time is 12.30pm and it should be all over by 6pm.
The itinerary is as follows:
12.30pm Brian Darnell's collection
1.45pm Ivor Crook's collection
3.15pm Harry Mak's collection
4.15pm Peter Bint's collection
At all venues drinks and biscuits will be available and at the final venue a buffet will be served to sustain the inner person. There will also be a raffle at this stage to help remunerate all concerned.
Maps are available from Peter Bint. Requests for the same should be accompnied by an SAE capable of holding A4 sized paper, preferably size C5 envelope.
We have had a thoroughly enjoyable day in spite of rain which arrived before it was scheduled. Just under twenty people attended and were treated to great hospitality and and interesting collections. Much food and drink was consumed, many raffle prizes won and large numbers of cheap or free plants went to new homes. My thanks to all those interested people and to those who opened their doors to allow the day to take place.
NORTH WEST MESEMB SHOW.
On Saturday October 9th 2010 we will hold the 4th North West Mesemb show in our meeting hall on Kirkway, Middleton (full details above). Since we took on this venture in 2007 it has gathered strength and is a much looked forward to event for the enthusiasts who take part. For those of you reading this who have never seen a show like this it is an eye opener. The plants on display are all of South African or Namibian descent when you consider their normal habitat but they will have been grown from seed mainly in this country or perhaps mainland Europe. Long gone are the days when explorers were allowed to visit habitats and wantonly remove 100's of plants for resale through commercial outlets. Now the challenge is to grow them into show worthy specimens in 'captivity' and that is a fascinating pastime.
This is a show almost without parallel in this country where virtually every genus in this very considerable family can be displayed. The plants are from the massive Daisy family. If you know the colourful, highly floriferous Livingstone Daisy sold in their thousands in Garden Centres around the country then you have seen the sort of flowers that can be produced (and many of these plants will be in flower at the show). However the body forms of these plants are very considerable. You will find a few that are reminiscent of the garden version but others are small bushes. There are some plants that are highly succulent as they have to withstand drought for 10 months of the year so they have developed small globose bodies. You can see pictures of the type of plants on show by looking at the site here of last year's show.
The show is open to the public from 10.30am. Judging of the show is by Eddy Harris from Essex who is a very knowledgeable exponent of the art. He will also be giving a talk at 2pm called 'Three Men and a Condor - part 3' which will relate his experiences in habitat.
To save people having to bring food with them on the day we lay on both hot and cold food (according to your preference) in addition to tea and coffee. There will be plant sales by both nurseries and private individuals and the standard of plants on sale is good. The show closes at 4pm.